Norman Hsu, who also raised money for the Obama campaign, said the fraud charges were a misunderstanding (Paul Sakuma/AP)
Posted on 09/11/2007 4:30:49 PM PDT by Libloather
Hillary Clinton drops fugitive fundraiser
September 11, 2007
Tom Baldwin of The Times, Washington
Norman Hsu, who also raised money for the Obama campaign, said the fraud charges were a misunderstanding (Paul Sakuma/AP)
Hillary Clinton has been forced cut all ties to the fugitive fundraiser Norman Hsu, announcing that she will return more than $850,000 he secured for her campaign from more than 250 donors.
Aides have also promised that from now on they will require major fundraisers to submit to additional vetting procedures, including criminal background checks.
The extraordinary measures are designed to limit the damage inflicted to her campaign after a series of embarrassing disclosures about Mr Hsu which have rekindled memories of the funding scandals surrounding Bill Clinton's presidency in the 1990s.
Previously, Mrs Clinton had planned only to give to charity the $23,000 she received from Mr Hsu directly for her presidential and senatorial campaigns. That decision followed his fall from grace this month when it was revealed that he was a fugitive from justice in a 15-year-old criminal case in California.
But this week it was reported that the FBI was investigating whether Mr Hsu paid "straw donors" to send campaign contributions to Mrs Clinton and other candidates. Under US campaign finance laws, the maximum donation to a candidate is limited to $2,300.
There is increasing concern about the activities of fundraising "bundlers" such as Mr Hsu, who ask friends and acquaintances to donate to campaigns. In his case, they included the Paw family in Daly City, California, who despite living in low-income housing are shown to have given more than $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005.
Last month a lawyer from Detroit was indicted for making $125,000 in illegally bundled contributions to John Edwards's 2004 presidential campaign.
Another indication of the pressure they may be exerting is the rising number of contributions from secretaries, administrative assistants and executive assistants for whom a $1,000 political contribution may be a big expense. The Washington Post has reported how at this point in the campaign four years ago, 127 donors making contributions listed one of those three occupations. In the first six months of this year the number was 526 and the average payment was for nearly $800.
Mr Hsu, who has also made contributions to other political campaigns including that of Barack Obama, has described the outstanding fraud charges as a misunderstanding. But last week he failed to show up at a court hearing in Redwood City, California. Instead, he booked passage on an Amtrak train headed to Chicago.
It was reported that passengers in the sleeper compartment across the aisle noticed a hat, a book and other items spilling into the hallway from under the door. The next morning, the curtains were still drawn. Returning from breakfast, one passenger peeked in and saw a person wedged against the door in the foetal position, bare-chested.
After conductors used a crowbar to pry the door open, it was said that Mr Hsu “could not stand", pills were rolling around on the floor of the compartment and he asked Amtrak attendants if he was in jail. He is now being treated in hospital.
Mrs Clinton's spokesman Howard Wolfson said: "In light of recent events and allegations that Mr Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign."
Has her Thighness made her own statement on the illegal loot? I don't recall...
Caught with her pants down.....OOOOOPS!!!! That was her husband’s pants that were down. What a friggin crook.
He is lucky he didn’t wind up like James McDougal or many other of the “Arkancide” victims.
See the political elite, all they have to do...tada! RETURN THE MONEY!
Wait. They only have to SAY they are returning the money.
So if I rob a bank and get caught...do I only have to say I’ll return it and what, I’m off scot free?
I shouldn’t even have to show any receipts or proof that I’ve returned to money, right? I only need to say it?
A rule for you and me and one for them.
Gee, I hope they have all the correct addresses to mail them back-haha.
I asked John Wildermuth of the SF Chronicle how it works when a campaign Donates $ to charity (Back when she was just gonna give 20+G to charity). He said he wasn’t sure how it worked with federal campaigns, but in California, donations Have to be made After the election-Wow!
I’ve been thinking— All these illegal donations ‘given to charity’ (Yeah, Right, WHICH Charities, and I want to see the canceled checks)
Or worse, just given back to the donors…. Who will turn around launder it again and pass it back to the politicians more covertly so they don’t get caught again.
The money SHOULD be CONFISCATED by the Feds (or the State if it isn’t done interstate) and put into the General Fund and/or applied directly into any budget deficit.
The way they do it now, there is no deterrent to repeat offenders… Even when they get an insignificant fine.
It would give ‘the authorities’ a bit of an enticement to enforce the laws.
Also, maybe set it up like the IRS does if you turn in a tax cheat; Give the tattle-tale 10% of it.
Good point, the announcement without verification is merely window dressing....
Wow is right. I do hope this is a stipulation peculiar to California pushed through by gray davis 'cause he knew he and half the officials would need that little loophole.
If that's the setup at the federal level, it's a sweet deal. Kind of like the Soros ACT violations. Illegally collect and disburse $130M and get fined $700K--after the election. Now there's a return not even Hsu had the gall to promise his "investors."
Unless there's a provision requiring them to lock down the money in a fund they can't touch, they have full benefit of the money. They have more than a year to replace it (and then some). Once she's officially the nominee or worse, that will hardly be a problem.
We should all be asking the question you did. Kudos.
Looks to me like Hillary will get another free trip pass GO and end up with still more ca$h!!!!!!!!.........
How anyone could elect this woman is disgusting. If she will do this to her so called friends think of all the other liberals she’s gonna get. There would be no stopping her and if they think for one minute they are not included; think again.
A dictator must control all; not just a few.
..the week is still young....and "accidents" do happen.
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