From The Hotline Latest Edition for Wednesday, April 30,2008

MINNESOTA

Spread The Wealth

Wed. Apr. 30, 2008


Entertainer Al Franken (D) said 4/29 that he has paid $70K in back taxes and penalties owed in 17 states, going back to '03. Franken "blamed his accountant of 18 years," Allen Chanzis, for failing to pay the appropriate taxes owed in each state." Franken: "[Chanzis] just made a basic kind of error that had a lot of ramifications."

Franken "said he paid the federal and state taxes on all of his income, but that the accountant had failed to properly distribute the tax payments." Franken said the net result was between '03 and '06, he overpaid taxes in MN and NY while failing to pay in 17 states where he owned income. Franken said the $70K "is his newly hired tax teams estimation of taxes and penalties owed in tech various states. Once those tax returns have been processed he can apply for a credit on taxes overpaid in" MN and NY. In total, Franken said he under paid taxes by just over $4K.

Franken: "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." Sen. Norm Coleman (R): "I'm certainly troubled by these admissions. I would hope that Mr. Franken would continue to come forward and continue to be and candid as to the nature of these problems. ... I serve on the Small Business Committee. I represent thousands of small businessmen and -women in Minnesota. Those folks pay their taxes and meet their obligation -- that is the expectation and so certainly these admissions by Mr. Franken are troubling."

'00 candidate/atty Mike Ciresi (D), who dropped out of the race last month "demurred on whether he would re-enter the race." Ciresi: "I prefer to reserve my comments and judgment until the facts come out. At this point, I really can't predict what the future might bring. You take a look at events and make judgments and decisions." '06 MN-05 candidate/St. Thomas Univ. prof. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer (D) "would not comment on Franken's latest admission but said he would release his tax returns" (Lopez/Duchschere, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 4/29).

Franken owes 17 states more than $52K, Franken said 4/29. "He said he has now written checks for the back taxes " plus $17K in penalties and interest to those states. Franken: "We are doing this because it is the right thing to do and I have always felt that when a campaign makes a mistake or an accountant who works on behalf of a candidate makes a mistake, the tight response is to take care of it and be honest about it."

GOP Chair Ron Carey: "This man is not fit to me a United States senator. Al Franken's credibility is really suspect at this point."

Franken "is fairly confident there are no more unpaid debts." Franken: "We are sending checks to states that aren't asking for money, that don't know that any money is due to them. I am trying to expedite this as fast and as accurately as possible" (Stassen-Berger, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/29).

"Franken said he takes ultimate responsibility for the errors." Franken mgr Andy Barr "said in no case did any of the 17 states attempt to contact Franken or his accountant seeking unpaid personal income taxes" (Condon, AP, 4/30).

Shhhh!

Ex-U.S. Atty Tom Heffelfinger and ex-asst U.S. Atty Doug Kelley said 4/29 and Hennepin Co. Atty Mike Freman "was irresponsible in remarks he made last week" about Franken's corporate troubles, "and they urged Freeman to retract the comments." They wrote Freeman that he should comment on Franken's CA tax situation "because not enough was yet known to determine what happened."

"Freeman responded that he was 'disappointed' that Heffelfinger and Kelley hadn't first called him to discuss their concerns, in light of their good personal and professional relationship." Freeman: "Since I received this communication after is was released [to the media] I can only assume that their comments arise from their political support for Norm Coleman and I will consider their comments in that light." Freeman said 4/26 "It appears to me that this is some carelessness in his personal business. Nothing criminal, nothing malicious, nothing nasty" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 4/29).