[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/08/art.albill1108.ap.jpg caption="Al Franken's campaign has continued to bring up the allegations to reporters."]
Minneapolis, Minnesota (CNN) - Just hours after a liberal-leaning Minnesota group called for an investigation into allegations that Sen. Norm Coleman accepted $75,000 worth of gifts, the incumbent Republican himself said he is eager for any probe to move forward "immediately."
Court documents allege that Texas businessman Nasser Kazeminy fraudulently ordered corporate funds be funneled to Coleman - a potential violation of Senate ethics rules.
Alliance for a Better Minnesota, a self-described progressive organization, sent letters to both the Senate Select Committee on Ethics and the Minneapolis branch of the FBI calling for a full investigation.
Al Franken’s campaign and the state Democratic Farmer Labor Party also continue to bring up the allegations repeatedly to reporters.
Coleman said the accusations were influenced by partisanship. “As another Democratic group that spent millions of dollars attempting to defeat me calls for a politically motivated investigation, I want to be clear that I not only welcome such an investigation, but I am eager to have it move forward immediately." Coleman said in a Wednesday statement. "The fact that a United States Senator is being used as a tool of extortion by private parties should be of concern to all Minnesotans. I reiterate that none of the allegations which attempt to besmirch my family’s good name and reputation are true.
"This investigation should move forward, and it is my hope that those who were behind this matter, their motives and what their connections may be to my political opponents be reviewed aggressively by the appropriate authorities and the media. This matter, which has emerged again as a result of the tactics of my political opponents, during a recount, ought to raise even further suspicions in the minds of Minnesotans as to its motives and purposes.”
Franken and Coleman remain locked in an unresolved Senate race, separated by just a few hundred votes. A state law-mandated recount is set to begin November 19.