Franken, Coleman Fight Over $94K in Legal Fees

Norm Coleman and Al Franken are tussling over $94,000 in legal fees as they head to the Minnesota Supreme Court, Talking Points Memo reports. A county clerk ruled this week that Coleman, after losing a court ruling in the Senate race, owed Franken the money under a loser-pays election law. But Coleman's lawyers say "costs and disbursements will become moot" if he wins, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.

Franken's lawyers disagree, saying Coleman has 2 days to pay. "Judgment has been entered," a Franken lawyer wrote. "There is no good reason to delay determination of costs." Either way, Franken won't get what he asked for—$161,000—which itself "hardly begins to cover the millions that have been spent on legal fees, but it's one more thing for Coleman to worry about," says TPM.