Sarah Palin, Nieman Marcus and Senator Norm Coleman’s Friends

By Ken Silverstein

Several weeks back I reported here on claims from sources that a friend and donor of Senator Norm Coleman had previously bought him suits at Nieman Marcus in Minneapolis. After much hemming and hawing, Coleman denied that the friend, Nasser Kazeminy, had bought him clothing.

Yesterday Politico reported that the Republican National Committee had “spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family.” Much of that money was spent at Nieman Marcus in Minneapolis. Today the Atlantic adds that Palin’s personal shopper was a man named Jeff Larson.

You might recall that name from my story, which looked at the mutually beneficial relationship between Coleman and his political supporters. Larson is a top advisor to Coleman and the treasurer of his personal Political Action Committee. He also was found to have rented a basement apartment in Washington to Coleman at a very cheap rate. And, as the Atlantic noted, Larson is a principal in the robocalling firm of FLS Connect, “the same one that launched the scurrilous robocalls against John McCain in 2000, and that McCain has now hired to make robocalls connecting Barack Obama to Bill Ayers.”

Perhaps it’s just a coincidence but it sure is a small political world in Minnesota.