Norm Coleman Won't Say Whether He's Been Interviewed By FBI

As Norm Coleman struggles in what appears to be a losing battle to reclaim his Senate seat, and as faint rumors spread that he could replace Michael Steele as RNC Chair, a cloud of ethics scandal continues to gather over his head.

On Thursday, the former Minnesota Senator refused to say whether or not the FBI had contacted him over allegations that he and his wife had accepted (and failed to report) $75,000 in payments from a longtime benefactor. It was, close observers of the case note, the first time that Coleman has failed to deny being contacted by investigators.

"I can¹t say anything," he told the Minnesota Post, after being asked if the FBI had contacted him. "We want this matter to be fully reviewed and fully investigated because nothing happened and we are looking forward to that taking place."

Indeed, in the past staffers to Coleman have publicly insisted that the Senator had "not been contacted by any law enforcement or investigative authority on this matter." In his conversation with the Minnesota Post he merely, as the paper noted, "smiled and shrugged his shoulders."