Franken's New Ad Ties Coleman To Indicted Sen. Stevens

22 Aug 2008 // Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) nominee and former 'Saturday Night Live" writer Al Franken launched a new TV ad on Thursday linking Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) to the VECO Corp. controversy.

"Over 10,000 lakes in Minnesota but where does Norm Coleman go fishing? Alaska!," the ad says. "Indicted Alaska Senator Ted Stevens flew him up. And got big oil honchos to give thousands just to fish with Norm. Now, one of the oil guys Norm went fishing with has been convicted of bribery. And Norm refuses to return the money."

Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, pleaded not guilty last month to a seven-count indictment for "knowingly and willfully" concealing gifts from an oil services company in his financial disclosure forms from 1999-2006. He is accused of accepting $250,000 worth of gifts from VECO Corporation, in return for help in obtaining contracts and the construction of a natural gas pipeline.

A number of Republicans seeking re-election have distanced themselves from the controversy by returning campaign contributions from Stevens. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) have each donated $10,000 in campaign contributions from the Alaskan senator to charity.

Coleman said last month he would return $20,000 he received from a Stevens' political action committee. The Republican lawmaker has come under fire in recent weeks after it was reported that he was paying only $600 rent to occupy the basement of a high-end townhouse on Capitol Hill, and that he had failed to pay rent twice within the past year.

The special living arrangements constitute illegal gifts, according to a watchdog, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington that filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee.

Coleman is ahead of Franken in the latest SurveyUSA poll, 46-39 percent, with 16 percent of voters undecided.