A closet full of skeletons.

What's a woman to do when it's too late to clean house? 

Frank Vennes, convicted money launderer, cocaine-gun runner, alleged Ponzi schemer, personal friend and major contributor to MB, Pawlenty, former MN Senator Norm Coleman and MN GOP Chairman Ron Ebensteiner, is under investigation (again) for his part in the 2008 Petters Ponzi scheme.  While serving time in the Sandstone Federal Correctional Institution, Bachmann and Pawlenty unsuccessfully sought a pardon for him from then President GW Bush. 

This is one of those stories that would be impossible to make up, but rather falls into the category of stranger than fiction.  Here is an excerpt from an exhaustive account (a fascinating read, I might add) that will give you some kind of an idea: 

Convicted money launderer and cocaine/gun runner Frank Vennes Jr., a close personal friend and major campaign contributor of Minnesota presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty, has been indicted on federal fraud and money-laundering charges for his alleged role in the $3.5 billion Tom Petters Ponzi scheme.

Vennes became implicated in the Petters Ponzi in 2008. Millions of dollars worth of his assets have been seized and are being liquidated to pay back some of the victims of the multibillion-dollar scam—the largest in Minnesota history. But until now, Vennes had not been charged with a crime for his involvement in the Ponzi scheme, which sent Petters to the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth Federal Prison for 50 years.

If convicted, Vennes could go to federal prison for the second time in his life on such charges—and also be in need of a second presidential pardon.

Besides each taking tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from Vennes and his family, Bachmann and Pawlenty—along with former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and former Minnesota GOP Chair Ron Ebensteiner—unsuccessfully sought a presidential pardon from President George W. Bush for Vennes’ federal crimes from the 1980s. Vennes donated heavily to Bachmann’s congressional campaign, Pawlenty’s gubernatorial campaign, Coleman’s senatorial campaign, the state House Republican Campaign Committee, the Minnesota GOP and other GOP candidates, all during the time the four Republicans heartily endorsed his candidacy for a pardon.

The timing of Vennes’ largesse has led many to speculate that it was part of a “pay-for-pardon” plot.

http://www.rippleinstillwater.com/2011/04/frank-vennes-jr-friend-and-fat-cat.html

Yep.  It’s another Karl Bremer piece, chosen on account of its infinitesimal detail and meticulous source documentation.  Before dismissing this as just another liberal rant, know that the information contained therein is all a matter of public record.