Businessman claims payments to Coleman

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A Texas businessman who claims he was forced to make payments to U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's wife has released documents to support his story.

The documents, supplied to the Minneapolis Star Tribune by a lawyer for Paul McKim, show "service fees" paid to the Hays Companies, where Laurie Coleman works, The Politico reported. But the wire transfers could have a more innocent explanation -- that they were for insurance for McKim's former company, Deep Marine Technology.

McKim, founder and former CEO of the company, filed a lawsuit this week claiming that Nasser Kaseminy, a Coleman friend and political contributor, forced him to make the payments.

On one page, apparently from a ledger, a payment of $25,000 to Hays is circled in ink with a note: "Please pull this detail and delete... 8/19/08."

Coleman, R-Minn., is in a tight race with Al Franken, former Saturday Night Live writer and performer and author of books like "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot." In a news conference this morning, Coleman called McKim's suit "sleazy politics," the Star Tribune said.

"If my opponents have any shred of decency left in this campaign -- stop attacking my family," Coleman said in a statement.