Free Republic

NEW YORK – Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was sentenced Tuesday to more than 24 years in prison by a judge who accused him of funding his fraud by manipulating the political process in a way that "strikes at the very core of our democracy." U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero sentenced the 58-year-old Hsu, who raised money for Hillary Rodham Clinton and others, to 20 years in prison for his guilty plea to fraud charges and another four years and four months in prison for his conviction at trial for breaking campaign finance laws. In a lengthy criticism of Hsu's...

NEW YORK – Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was sentenced Tuesday to more than 24 years in prison by a judge who accused him of funding his fraud by manipulating the political process in a way that "strikes at the very core of our democracy." U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero sentenced the 58-year-old Hsu, who raised money for Hillary Rodham Clinton and others, to 20 years in prison for his guilty plea to fraud charges and another four years and four months in prison for his conviction at trial for breaking campaign finance laws. In a lengthy criticism of Hsu's...

NEW YORK – Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison Tuesday by a judge who accused him of funding his fraud by manipulating the political process in a way that "strikes at the very core of our democracy." U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero sentenced the 58-year-old Hsu to 20 years in prison for his guilty plea to fraud charges and another four years and four months in prison for his conviction at trial for breaking campaign finance laws. In a lengthy criticism of Hsu's fraud, the judge said the former fundraiser used political...

NEW YORK -- A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu to more than 24 years in prison for illegally funneling tens of thousands of dollars to U.S. political candidates and for his role in a Ponzi scheme. The sentence of 292 months in prison, handed down in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan by Judge Victor Marrero, was less than the 30 years that the prosecution had requested. Before Judge Marrero announced the sentence, Mr. Hsu quietly told him: "I know apologizing will not make things better for anyone, but I would still like to apologize...

Democratic Fundraiser Convicted in Corruption Trial A Manhattan jury convicted Norman Hsu (SHOO) on Tuesday in an case that became an embarrassment to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats. AP Tuesday, May 19, 2009 A longtime Democratic fundraiser has been convicted of violating campaign finance laws. A Manhattan jury convicted Norman Hsu (SHOO) on Tuesday. The case became an embarrassment to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other prominent Democrats. Prosecutors said the 58-year-old Hsu used straw donors to make thousands of dollars in donations so he could bypass rules limiting the amount he could donate....

Note: The following text is a quote: Norman Hsu Found Guilty of Violating the Federal Election Campaign Act NEW YORK—Lev L. Dassin, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Norman Hsu was found guilty today on all four counts in the superseding indictment charging him with violating the Federal Election Campaign Act by making contributions to various political campaigns in the names of others. Hsu was found guilty following a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan federal court. The evidence at trial established that every year from 2004 through...

Today Reuters reported the story "Democrat fundraiser guilty of illegal donations." Author Christine Kearney begins: A former U.S. Democratic Party fundraiser whose 2007 arrest prompted Hillary Clinton to return $850,000 in campaign contributions was found guilty on Tuesday of breaking federal campaign laws

Closing Arguments Focus on Whether Hsu Repaid Colleagues for Donations The fate of Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu, who faces criminal charges for allegedly violating campaign-finance laws, now rests with a federal jury in New York. In closing arguments Monday, prosecutors and counsel for Mr. Hsu focused on the central issue of whether Mr. Hsu repaid thousands of dollars in political donations made by his business colleagues. Such repayments would violate campaign-finance laws. Mr. Hsu's troubles began after an August 2007 Wall Street Journal story raised questions about whether he was making illegal contributions to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign by financing...

The head of an ethical and legal watchdog group is angered that Hillary Clinton is being given a pass by the media and U.S. prosecutors regarding her involvement with convicted con artist and former million-dollar Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu. Jurors in Manhattan federal court recently heard a voicemail message from then-Senator Hillary Clinton to her former top fundraiser Norman Hsu, who has pled guilty to a $20 billion Ponzi scheme that involved misleading investors about his contacts with key Democratic leaders. In the voicemail, Clinton was effusive in her praise of Hsu, suggesting she would win the Democratic presidential primary...

Former top Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to charges he cheated investors out of at least $20 million in a massive Ponzi scheme. The 58-year-old Hsu (SHOO) pleaded guilty to 10 counts of wire and mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero. "I knew what I was doing was illegal," Hsu told the judge.

Obama And That Other Ponzi Scheme President-elect's name may emerge in Norman Hsu fraud trial DECEMBER 31--As if being linked to one high-profile criminal case weren't enough, President-elect Barack Obama's name may soon pop up in another federal prosecution, this one involving a massive Ponzi scheme (no, the other massive Ponzi scheme). In addition to the Rod Blagojevich pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme. According to investigators, Hsu, a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, pressured investors to donate...

DECEMBER 31--As if being linked to one high-profile criminal case weren't enough, President-elect Barack Obama's name may soon pop up in another federal prosecution, this one involving a massive Ponzi scheme. In addition to the Rod Blagojevich pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme. In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, Hsu's lawyer, Martin Cohen...noted that ...it was "inevitable" that his client's "connections" to Bill and Hillary Clinton "and other democratic notables--including perhaps...

A state appeals court in San Francisco has upheld a San Mateo County Superior Court sentence of three years in prison for a former political fundraiser who was a fugitive for 15 years. Norman Hsu, 57, was sentenced in January for a 1992 no-contest plea to a charge of grand theft in an investment scheme. County prosecutors said Hsu operated a so-called Ponzi scheme, by soliciting investments in a purported latex glove company and paying returns to early investors with funds from later investors. Prosecutors said he defrauded about 20 victims of nearly $1 million. After pleading no contest to...

Some of Humboldt State University's student Republicans feel like minorities on campus, and are asking the university to change its nondiscrimination policy to include ideological views. ”The point is that everyone should be getting a chance to be heard,” said Jerilyn Gashi, president of the HSU College Conservatives, formerly the College Republicans. “Too often, the definition of diversity ends at a certain list. It should be extended to everyone, Republicans included.” The club is asking HSU to amend the university's nondiscrimination policy to include a clause prohibiting discrimination on the basis of ideological view or affiliation with major political parties....

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- Federal regulators have sued political fundraiser Norman Hsu for allegedly operating a $60 million financial scam and using some of the proceeds to make contributions to Sen. Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats.

Longtime readers will recall that Barack Obama's newly tapped running mate Joe Biden was fugitive bundler Norman Hsu's 5th most richly lavished Senator, behind Clinton, Obama, Harkin, and Kennedy. Over a 15 month period from 2005-2006, the veep hopeful accepted at least $39,100 from Hsu's suspected straw donors.

A co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, which has made a name for itself by interrupting hearings on Capitol Hill, is a fundraising bundler for Barack Obama. Jodie Evans has pledged to raise at least $50,000 for Obama, according the Democrat's campaign site. According to research being circulated by GOP sources, Evans has a record of inflammatory statements such as saying that women were better off in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, "Men are dying in their Hummers in Iraq so you can drive around in yours" and, my favorite, that the invasion of Iraq amounted to "global testosterone poisoning."...

Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into a Washington-area donor to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, investigating whether he illegally reimbursed other contributors. The case is similar to one brought last year against Norman Hsu, a New York businessman who was indicted in November on charges of paying associates for donations to the New York senator. The Clinton campaign ultimately returned more than $800,000 raised by Mr. Hsu, who was also accused of cheating investors out of millions of dollars. The new investigation centers around contributions last year by William Danielczyk, chairman of Galen Capital Corp., a northern Virginia private-equity...

If and when the time comes to perform the autopsy on Hillary Clinton's campaign, some will trace the start of its demise back to the Norman Hsu episode. Others will ask, "What's a Norman shoe?" Eight months ago, on August 28, 2007, Brody Mullins of the Wall Street Journal broke the Yuan Yuen (AKA "Norman") Hsu story in his article about how a Chinese family named Paw, leading a humble life-style in San Francisco, had contributed considerable monies ($284,799) to Democrat politicians. And so began the end of Norman Hsu's grand Ponzi scheme - if that's what is was. On...

Democratic rivals mum on firm’s dirty cashMar 20, 2008 3:00 AM (17 hrs ago) by Quin Hillyer, The Examiner WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has received more campaign money from disgraced lawyers at the controversial Milberg Weiss law firm than any other member of Congress, but she won’t say whether she’ll keep the contributions. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, Clinton’s chief rival for their party’s nomination, received much less money from the same lawyers but is likewise mum. Clinton received $21,971 and Obama $5,300 from four senior partners of the firm or their spouses. Presumptive Republican nominee John...

ALBANY — On Dec. 3, Richard P. Richman, a real estate developer from Connecticut, wrote a check to Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s campaign account. The check was for $10,000, less than one-fifth of the maximum donation allowed under New York State law. But it was all he could give to the governor, who had imposed strict limits on what he would accept from donors as part of his highly publicized pledge to end the excesses of special-interest money in Albany. So Mr. Richman took out his checkbook again. This time he gave $15,000, but sent it to the state Democratic Party,...

Pakistani immigrant Abdul Jinnah may go away for as long as five years for filling Senator Clinton's campaign coffers in a very familiar way. LOS ANGELES (CNS)  -- A Northridge businessman has pleaded guilty to funneling tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to Senators Hillary Clinton and Barbara Boxer. Abdul Rehman Jinnah admitted reimbursing employees and others for contributions made in their names. There is a $2,000 cap on individual contributions to candidates. Jinnah faces up to five years in federal prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines when he's sentenced on June 2nd. The...

Mary Landrieu’s hypocrisy and alleged corruption continues to rear its ugly head this cycle. Next on the list of questionable Landrieu campaign tactics and decisions – taking $1,500 from Jane Kuo (PDF), who is associated with Tai Shen Koi (when giving political contributions, both use the same addresss) who was arrested in conjunction with a Chinese espionage case yesterday. Admittedly, this donation occurred during Landrieu’s first run for Senate, but taken into account with the string of more recent and ongoing questionable political activities and decisions by Landrieu, it is leading some people to sense a pattern developing. Some notable...

It's not that we expect politicians to have squeaky-clean donor lists. You try running for office without, at one point or another, taking money from someone you probably shouldn't. Even Barack Obama, Mr. Clean, has Tony Rezko. But the Frank Giustra-Kazakhstan-Uranium affair, blown open by The New York Times last week, serves as a reminder that the relationship between the Clintons and money has not always been lily-white. Here, a guide to the unsavory characters who have been associated with Bill and Hillary Clinton. THE DONOR Norman Hsu, Hong Kong "apparel executive." THE GREEN Hsu bundled more than $850,000 for...

Barack Obama challenged over 'slumlord' tiesBy Philip Sherwell in Chicago Last Updated: 1:12am GMT 27/01/2008 Barack Obama and Joann Larkins live less than a mile apart in Chicago's predominantly black South Side, but they inhabit very different worlds. What connects her squalid flat and his colonnaded mansion is Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the former Obama donor and friend, who goes on trial for corruption next month - and was denounced as a "slum landlord" by Hillary Clinton in a dramatic and bitter exchange during last week's Democratic presidential debate. Mr Obama’s past ties to the Syrian-born property developer, a well-known figure...

Time for Obama to come cleanTo dismiss Rezko as 'somebody who I knew' just isn't going to cut it January 24, 2008 BY MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist Barack Obama just keeps bobbling the Tony Rezko hot potato, and if he doesn't get a handle on it soon, his campaign for the presidency is going to be badly burned. On Wednesday, the Illinois senator fumbled again as he continued to try to minimize his relationship with Rezko while making the rounds of the morning news shows. "My relationship is he was somebody who I knew and had been a supporter for...

We all know Hillary fundraiser, Norman Hsu was sentenced int the first of his up coming trials. But did you hear his lawyer's case for dismissal? Just when you think lawyers can't get any lower...

SAN FRANCISCO — Norman Hsu, the shamed political powerbroker and Democratic donor, was sentenced Friday to...

AUSTIN, Texas - Authorities raided the offices of an influential Democratic donor on Friday, prompting accusations by the donor's attorneys that the raid was politically motivated. The state attorney general's office said it was assisting the Nueces County district attorney in the criminal investigation of Mauricio Celis, 36, who has given money to major Democratic candidates including Hillary Clinton and is the subject of numerous ongoing lawsuits and charges. Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, sued Celis in November, accusing him of practicing law without a license. Agents from Abbott's office were among those involved in the Friday search of...

Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, indicted by a federal grand jury in New York in September on separate charges of violating campaign-finance laws and overseeing a massive $60 million fraud, was sentenced yesterday in California to three years in prison in a 1991 case. Continues...=============================================================== The Womanchurian Candidate August 17, 2007 "JohnHuang2" Democrats are preparing 'The Best Tax Increase In American History!' The Clintons are having a Chinagate scandal. O.J. just got arrested. Hillary's plugging her health plan. Question is, can Bob Dole beat Bill Clinton in November? Oops, sorry. Thought for a second there we were back in the 90s....

Sen. Hillary Clinton went on the counterattack today, one day after a stinging defeat in the Iowa caucuses to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. She said New Hampshire voters need to take a hard look at Obama, suggesting that they shouldn't just buy into his message of "hope" without analyzing his policies. Clinton said she wasn't suggesting anything in particular about Obama, but simply "drawing contrasts." "I'm running on my record. … I'm running on my plans," Clinton told reporters. "I think everybody needs to be vetted and tested. That's the way elections are supposed to operate. The last thing the...

REDWOOD CITY, California (AP) -- A former fugitive captured in Colorado has been sentenced to three years in prison -- after a judge rejected his bid to throw out a 16-year-old fraud conviction. Norman Hsu was convicted of fraud 16 years ago. Attorneys for disgraced political donor Norman Hsu had asked Judge Stephen Hall to dismiss his 1992 no-contest plea, saying Hsu's right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities were not actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A judge on Friday sentenced disgraced political donor Norman Hsu to three years in state prison after rejecting the one-time Democratic rainmaker's bid to throw out a 16-year-old fraud conviction. Hsu's lawyers had asked Superior Court Judge Stephen Hall to dismiss his 1992 no contest plea, arguing his right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities weren't actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive. They could easily have arrested Hsu, his lawyers argued, at one of the fundraisers he hosted in California for prominent local politicians. Hsu also faces federal fraud charges in...

Redwood City, Calif. (AP) -- A judge on Friday sentenced disgraced political donor Norman Hsu to three years in state prison after rejecting the one-time Democratic rainmaker's bid to throw out a 16-year-old fraud conviction. Hsu's lawyers had asked Superior Court Judge Stephen Hall to dismiss his 1992 no contest plea, arguing his right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities weren't actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive. They could easily have arrested Hsu, his lawyers argued, at one of the fundraisers he hosted in California for prominent local politicians. Hsu also faces federal fraud charges...

A judge has ruled that disgraced political donor Norman Hsu's 16-year-old plea to a fraud charge remains in effect, meaning the one-time Democratic rainmaker is likely headed to state prison. Superior Court Judge Stephen Hall rejected Hsu's bid Friday to dismiss his 1992 no contest plea, and was set to sentence him to three years in state prison. Hsu also faces federal charges in New York. Hsu's lawyers asked the judge to toss his plea, arguing his right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities weren't actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive. They could easily have...

IOWA ANTHEM Oh, Hillary, oh, Hillary...you thought you'd make history Oh, Hillary, oh, Hillary...you are evil as can be We saw right through your phoniness Your crimes it's time that you confess Oh, Hillary, oh, Hillary...go away now, quietly

Bloomberg is link only.STORY.

As the race for the White House moved into its final weeks in 1996, Republicans were accusing the campaign of Bill Clinton and Al Gore of unethical fundraising tactics, including Gore's attendance at a fundraiser at a tax-exempt Buddhist temple in California. Now, as Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks the White House, the indictment yesterday of a former chief fundraiser, Norman Hsu, may see her confront potentially harmful fundraising questions of her own. "Will this help? Of course not," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Polling Institute at Quinnipiac University, in Hamden, Conn. "You accumulate enough hurts and you have a...

NEW YORK -- Norman Hsu, a Democratic fundraiser and supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton, was indicted Tuesday for allegedly orchestrating a massive $60 million fraud scheme and making illegal campaign contributions. Federal prosecutors in New York said as part of the scam, Hsu personally stole $20 million from investors. Hsu, 56, is currently in custody in California on unrelated fraud charges. The FBI says from 2000 through 2007, Hsu duped investors to invest millions in his Next Components Inc. Hsu then allegedly pressured investors to make campaign contributions, saying those donations would help him in securing business. In some cases,...

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Norman Hsu, a top Democratic fundraiser accused of cheating investors of at least $20 million and using some of the money to make illegal donations to political campaigns. In the 15-count indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the government accused the 56-year-old clothing-industry entrepreneur of duping investors nationwide with a massive Ponzi scheme. The government said Hsu also violated federal campaign finance laws by making contributions to various political candidates in the names of others.

NEW YORK — A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Norman Hsu, a top Democratic fundraiser accused of cheating investors of at least $20 million and using some of the money to make illegal donations to political campaigns.

Just reported on Fox News

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Norman Hsu, a top Democratic fundraiser accused of cheating investors of at least $20 million and using some of the money to make illegal donations to political campaigns. In the 15-count indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the government accused the 56-year-old clothing-industry entrepreneur of duping investors nationwide with a massive Ponzi scheme. The government said Hsu also violated federal campaign finance laws by making contributions to various political candidates in the names of others.

SAN JOSE A Silicon Valley businessman was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for helping broker a deal to sell a military-grade night vision camera to China, federal prosecutors said. Philip Cheng, 60, pleaded guilty in October of last year to violating a U.S. law forbidding the export of certain military items to China. He had faced up to 10 years in prison. Cheng was scheduled to begin serving the prison sentence on Feb. 12, 2008, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco. He also was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. Cheng was originally charged in...

Documents show how the fundraiser's network pitched the deals that allegedly turned his Clinton ties into gold. Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu reveled in his role as friend to Bill and Hillary Clinton. As Hsu raised more than $800,000 for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, the couple praised him at star-studded events and showered him with thank-you notes. Hsu often wore a bomber jacket that bore the presidential seal, a gift from the former president, he told associates. But Hsu's turn in the political limelight was about more than ego gratification. Documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times show how...

A nude woman fleeing a groping impostor? Lying about academic credentials in court? Owning a controlling interest in a Texas law firm without having a license to practice law? In these days of Norman Hsu and the Fujian fundraising scandals, this case may only qualify as a minor embarrassment to Hillary Clinton and Texas Democrats. Mauricio Celis got indicted on a slew of charges yesterday as I left Corpus Christi, and the fundraiser may join Hsu in the rogues' gallery for the 2008 cycle: A major contributor to Democratic causes and political races was indicted Friday on charges of falsely...

A major contributor to Democratic causes and political races was indicted Friday on charges of falsely holding himself out as a lawyer and impersonating a public servant. Mauricio Celis, a Corpus Christi businessman, has a controlling interest in the CGT Law Group of Corpus Christi even though he is not an attorney. Now, he's being accused of practicing law without a license. Texas law prohibits anyone from owning a controlling interest in a law firm unless he is a licensed lawyer. Celis has contributed thousands to state and federal candidates, including the presidential campaign of Sen. Hilary Clinton.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer has been warned not to focus Thursday's Dem debate on Hillary. 'This campaign is about issues, not on who we can bring down and destroy,' top Clinton insider explains. 'Blitzer should not go down to the levels of character attack and pull 'a Russert.'' Blitzer is set to moderate debate from Vegas, with questions also being posed by Suzanne Malveaux... Developing.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) recently appeared before the Human Rights Campaign to present a keynote speech on her support of the homosexual/bisexual/transgender agenda and her efforts to defeat any attempts by Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that will ban same-sex marriage. HRC President Joe Solomese introduced Clinton and revealed their long-term relationship in fighting against the pro-family movement. Solomese describes numerous meetings with Clinton as they strategized togethor about how to defeat any constitutional amendment on marriage... ... Clinton told her homosexual activist audience that they will have a close "partnership ... when I am President." Watch her comments...

Hsu Wowed the Democrats As He Beguiled Investors; 'He Craved Attention' November 12, 2007; Page A1 By the time Norman Hsu flew to Beverly Hills in early September and checked into the Raffles L'Ermitage hotel, the life of the top Democratic donor and self-professed clothing magnate was coming unraveled. Mr. Hsu, a slight, 56-year-old immigrant from Hong Kong, was under investigation for campaign-finance violations. An old grand-theft charge had come back to haunt him. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other politicians had begun returning his donations. He was so distraught that he sent off suicide notes before leaving his Manhattan...