I can’t tell you how many people have told me they don’t know who or what to believe in the Coleman/Franken lawsuits controversy. We won’t have many clear answers when Minnesotans go to the polls. Take the ruling today on Coleman’s lawsuit against Franken about his campaign commercials. The campaigns send out two totally contradictory press releases. Both releases are based on truth, but boy can the truth be manipulated your way. I guess that summarizes the tone that has typified this campaign.
Franken’s side got his release out first, so here’s their take:
JUDGE THROWS OUT HALF OF COLEMAN LAWSUITOTHER HALF - WHETHER COLEMAN IS "FOURTH MOST CORRUPT SENATOR" -- TO BE LITIGATED WEDNESDAY |
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| SAINT PAUL [11/03/08] - Today an Administrative Law Judge threw out one of the two claims in the lawsuit filed last week by Senator Norm Coleman's campaign. Judge Barbara Neilson determined that the statement in the Franken for Senate ad that Senator Coleman was living in an "almost rent free apartment" did not violate Minnesota law. Judge Neilson also ordered that evidence be taken on Wednesday on the issue of whether Senator Coleman is the "fourth most corrupt Senator according to a bipartisan watchdog group." At that hearing, the Franken campaign intends to present evidence that its ad was accurate, that Senator Coleman is at least the fourth most corrupt, and that, in light of recent development, he may deserve a higher ranking. The campaign stands by its ads. Former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug, who represents Franken in the lawsuit, commented: "This lawsuit has zero merit, and now it's half of zero. The Franken campaign is looking forward to the hearing on Wednesday where this lawsuit will be confronted with the truth." Franken spokesperson Andy Barr added, "We always thought Senator Coleman's lawsuit was a smokescreen to divert attention from the sworn affidavit in Texas that Norm Coleman's close friend Nasser Kazeminy conspired to funnel $100,000 to Senator Coleman. The smoke is starting to clear." |
Now, about an hour later this news release from the Coleman campaign:
JUDGE FINDS MERIT THAT FRANKEN MADE FALSE STATEMENTS AGAINST SENATOR COLEMAN
ST. PAUL - A Minnesota State Administrative Law Judge today decided that there is primae facie evidence that Al Franken and the Franken for Senate campaign may have violated Minnesota law by knowingly or recklessly making false statements in order to defeat Senator Coleman.
The Administrative Law Judge decided that there was enough evidence to proceed to a hearing for probable cause this Wednesday to further consider whether Al Franken and the Franken for Senate campaign violated Minnesota Statutes 211B.06 which prohibits knowingly or recklessly making false statements about a candidate for public office in order to injure or defeat that candidate.
"Everybody is entitled to their own views, but candidates for public office are not entitled to make up false statements about another candidate," said Cullen Sheehan, manager of the Coleman for Senate campaign.
"If the judge believed that there was no evidence that false statements were made by Al Franken and the Franken campaign, the judge would have dismissed the case," added Sheehan. "At the end of the day, we hope that this lawsuit will correct the record regarding the false statements made against Senator Coleman and set at least the minimum bounds of decency in future campaigns: that lying about another candidate is unacceptable."
The Coleman for Senate campaign filed the lawsuit on October 30 and amended its filing this morning. In the amendment, the Coleman for Senate campaign cited the KSTP-TV Truth Test, aired on October 29, that gave the Franken ads in question a D- for making false statements about Senator Coleman, and comments made by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) Executive Director that clarified that CREW did not, in fact, assert what Al Franken and the Franken campaign asserted in their TV and radio ads.