Coleman's Fancy Threads Come at a Price

State Sen. Eric D. Coleman, D-Bloomfield, accused of using campaign funds to buy expensive suits for himself, has agreed to pay back the money.

The state’s Elections Enforcement Commission ruled Oct. 16 that Coleman had improperly used campaign money for clothing. The commission also concluded that the treasurer for a Coleman political action committee violated state statutes requiring the disclosure of the receipt of surplus funds.

The rulings stem from a campaign finance disclosure complaint filed in September by Windsor resident Adam Gutcheon. In the complaint, Gutcheon questioned a finance report that listed the purchase of men’s clothing costing more than $1,800 from Stackpole Moore Tryon, a Hartford men’s store.

Coleman last week agreed to repay $1,884 used to buy two men’s suits, said Jeffrey B. Garfield, executive director of the state Elections Enforcement Commission.

The commission also found that A. Michelle Greaves, treasurer of the Second Senatorial PAC, made an excessive contribution of $5,000 to Democrats in Progress in 2001. The commission ruled that Democrats in Progress should forfeit the additional $3,000 to the state, which it did, Garfield said. Greaves was fined $250.

Coleman, a Hartford attorney and former public defender, is the first African American co-chairman of the state Judiciary Committee.

LIEBERMAN HEARS CRITICISM ON IRAQ VOTE


U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman got an earful on his support for a possible war against Iraq as he finished a two-day campaign visit to New Hampshire last week.Lieberman, who voted to give President Bush the authority to use military force against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, was at Daniel Webster College. While his talk focused on bread-and-butter issues, people attending the session questioned him about foreign policy.

War critic Morton Goulder told Lieberman the idea of starting a war in the Middle East is foolish. “Pre-emptive strikes against people you don’t like is crazy,” said Goulder, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense under Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter, who helped found the defense-industry company formerly known as Sanders.

Liz Wright, an associate professor at Rivier College, meanwhile told Lieberman she was a fan of his, but said his vote in favor of the war resolution was disappointing. There is a “very silent majority” of people opposing the move to war, Wright said.

Lieberman, D-Conn., said nobody wants to go to war, but he has thought since Desert Storm that American-led forces stopped too early and should have ousted Saddam. “Dissent is healthy,” he said.

Lieberman is considering a run for the presidency in 2004, and spent two days in New Hampshire in a show of support for Democrats running for state offices and Congress.

In Nashua, Lieberman praised Bush for his leadership against terrorism, but criticized his handling of the economy. “He doesn’t even talk about [the economy],” Lieberman said of Bush. “We elected [him] to lead on more than one issue at a time.”