Hardball, Minnesota-style

Over the weekend Rocket Man wrote at some length about the indictment of our friend Ron Eibensteiner, the chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, by a rural Minnesota grand jury. In Minnesota all corporate contributions to state campaigns and parties are illegal; the indictment (still sealed as of this writing) apparently charges Eibensteiner with four gross misdemeanors related to an allegedly illegal corporate contribution by American Bankers Insurance Company to the state party.
The County Attorney who brought the charges against Eibensteiner is a friend of Minnesota’s Democratic Attorney General Mike Hatch. Hatch covets the job of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and has been conducting a guerilla war against Pawlenty out of the Attorney General’s office roughly since Pawlenty was inaugurated this past January.
Our fellow Northern Alliance blogger Mitch Berg of Shot in the Dark has been all over the American Bankers story that emerged from Hatch leaks earlier this year. It is this story that provides the backdrop to Eibensteiner’s indictment. Check the link to Mitch’s site for a recap of Mitch’s sleuthing. Mitch concludes: “The big question — what does Hatch expect to gain from this ridiculous action? I’ll see what I can find out.”