Candidate Al Franken pays $70k in taxes

SAINT PAUL, Minn., April 30 (UPI) -- Al Franken, the Democratic political satirist running for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, paid $70,000 in back taxes and penalties amid GOP criticism, records show.

Franken said his accountant of 18 years, Allen Chanzis, "just made a basic kind of error that had a lot of ramifications," the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday.

Franken is running against fellow Democrat Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, a University of St. Thomas professor, for the opportunity to face Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., in the general election. Coleman's GOP supporters launched a barrage of attacks on Franken for his long-running barbs against Republican icons, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and President George Bush.

GOP operatives focused on Franken's economic record and financial dealings since March in an attempt to paint him as an unelectable Senate candidate.

Franken said the tax issue did not seem to have a negative impact on his campaign, the newspaper said.

"I think Minnesotans are fair-minded and I think when they look at this ... they'll say, 'Oh, I see, the Frankens paid state and federal taxes on all their income and they tried to comply,'" he said.