| What's Norm Coleman's response to calls for the return of donations from a lobbying firm connected to the brutal military regime in Myanmar?
No explanation of Coleman's meetings or discussions with the firm's leading figures. No details on Coleman's position on the Myanmar junta.
No, Coleman's response is to try to turn attention to an issue at Air America Radio, where his likely DFL opponent Al Franken used to work. Human rights organizations and dissident groups have bitterly accused the junta of neglecting disaster victims and blocking foreign donations of relief supplies following the May 3 cyclone. The United Nations estimates the death toll could be between 62,000 and 100,000.
Justice Department records show DCI signed a contract to work to "improve relations between the United States and Myanmar" and to act as the junta's public relations agent in Washington.
In a statement, Coleman campaign spokesman Tom Erickson referenced an improper $875,000 transfer from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in New York City to the liberal radio network Air America when Franken was a star host there. That transfer prompted a probe by the city's Department of Investigation.
"Franken continues to remain silent about his role in this matter," Erickson said. "As for returning a legal contribution from an individual and company engaged in legal activities, of course we will not be returning the contribution." Or, in classic form, they're not saying DCI isn't doing work on behalf of terrible people, and they're not saying that the money given to the campaign by DCI figures didn't come from the Myanmar junta in the form of lobbying fees...they're just saying that the Boys and Girls Club is just about the same as a repressive military regime.
Shame. Coleman's campaign team probably could have made this go away by just returning the check or donating it to recovery efforts. Now, not so much. |
