As reported below [0], CREW filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics asking for an investigation into whether Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) violated the Senate gifts rule by accepting lodging from Republican operative Jeff Larson.

In response, Sen. Coleman's campaign sent the following statement:

The only surprise is that it took Al Franken’s surrogate this long to file a politically motivated attack against Senator Coleman. The Executive Director of CREW, Melanie Sloan, was a featured guest who made at least 50 appearances on Al Franken’s radio show - appearances that were marked with theme music dedicated to her and made her a reliable attack dog for the Democrat Party. We will probably see pigs flying before she gets around to filing an ethics complaint against her former boss, and current political ally, DSCC Chairman Chuck Schumer, for his own rental arrangement. The record is clear that Senator Coleman paid fair market value for a cramped basement bedroom, and attacks by Franken’s surrogates won’t change those facts.

CREW's response:

While we don’t know how many times Melanie Sloan appeared on the Franken show since we did not keep track (as did Sen. Coleman’s staff), she did appear on the show regularly to discuss government ethics issues. Although unclear on the relevance, Sloan did, in fact, have her own theme music, sung to the tune of George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone.” Coleman appears not to have paid as close attention to CREW’s actions as he did to Sloan’s theme music. Last month, CREW filed a Senate ethics complaint against Democratic Senators Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd, related to mortgages they accepted under Countrywide’s VIP program. Earlier this year, CREW filed a complaint against Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu over her trading earmarks for campaign contributions. Sen. Coleman’s office seems to taking the view that the best defense is a good offense. He is attacking CREW, but failing to address the substance of CREW’s complaint. CREW looks forward to hearing Sen. Coleman explain how his conduct comports with the Senate gifts rule.