Why "Trial Lawyer" Coleman keeps changing the subject

FBI agents in Minnesota have begun asking questions about the relationship between former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and a close friend and donor, according to a Minnesota source to whom the agents talked.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the "main topic" of the two agents' questions surrounded an allegation that Bloomington financier Nasser Kazeminy paid for suits and other items Coleman and his wife shopped for at Neiman-Marcus in Minneapolis.

That allegation surfaced in October, and Coleman denied it, saying: "Nobody except my wife and me buy my suits." The Minnesota source was familiar with the allegations but had no firsthand knowledge to support them. The source said agents said they had talked to other people in Minnesota.

The questioning of at least one person in Minnesota within the last two weeks — and the topic of clothing — signifies an expansion of an FBI inquiry that touches Coleman. In December, a different source told the Pioneer Press that FBI agents had talked to or made efforts to talk to people in Texas following allegations, contained in a pair of lawsuits, that Kazeminy had tried to steer $100,000 from a Houston firm he controlled to Coleman via Coleman's wife's employer in Minneapolis.