Free Republic

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said Friday that he won't keep campaign donations he received last year that have now been tied to a disgraced Democratic fundraiser if the donations are found to be improper. "If a donation to Senator Tester is shown to have been made illegally, he would obviously return it or donate it to charity," said Matt McKenna, a Tester spokesman. Tester received $3,750 last year from people linked to Norman Hsu, a New York clothing executive who helped raise more than $1 million for Democratic candidates in the past four years. Tester received no money from Hsu...

Members of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign staff got a nice payoff last year for their work to get her re-elected - a trip to Las Vegas funded by her fugitive former fund-raiser.......Norman Hsu.

Things aren't lookiing good. Hillary worried about these kinds of problems, but failed to prevent them: " Of all the possible vulnerabilities ... Some sort of fund-raising scandal that would echo the Clinton-era controversies of the 1990s and make her appear greedy or ethically challenged." Yet nine months into her campaign, Mrs. Clinton is grappling with exactly the situation she feared — giving up nearly $900,000 that had been donated or raised by Norman Hsu, a one-time fugitive and one of her top fund-raisers, whose actions raise serious questions about how well the campaign vetted its donors. As a result,...

Bail was set today at $5 million for disgraced Democratic donor Yung Yuen "Norman" Hsu. Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger asked for a $50 million bond because Hsu had a checkbook that showed a balance of $6 million and because of other allegations that Hsu had bilked investors of more than $40 million in recent years. Mesa County Judge Bruce Raaum set bail at $5 million after Eric Eliff, Hsu's attorney, argued that Hautzinger's figure was excessive and that his client's illness made him incapable of traveling far. Eliff did not elaborate on the illness. Last week, Hsu surrendered...

The saga of the scandal-plagued Democratic fundraiser with ties to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton took another strange twist after he mailed a suicide note last week to a legal organization. A person who saw the letter said Thursday that the note from Hong Kong-born Norman Hsu explicitly stated that he "intended to commit suicide." The person declined to reveal the exact phrasing, but said it was not rambling in nature. The individual spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about it. The letter arrived at the New York offices of...

Hsu letter appeared to be suicide note By Dan Morain, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 13, 2007 On the day he disappeared, Norman Hsu, the disgraced fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, sent letters to friends that recipients viewed as a suicide note, people familiar with the letter have said. In his letter, Hsu apologized for any embarrassment he had caused recipients of his largesse. In the last four years, he has generated donations of more than $1 million for Democratic politicians across the country. Hsu's undoing began two weeks ago with articles raising questions about his...

Yesterday, the WSJ reported that Norman Hsu, prominent fundraiser for embattled Dem frontrunner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, had apparently Fed-Exed a suicide not to several people and organizations just after jumping bail. Today’s twist in the Hillary Clinton-Norman Hsu scandal is provided by the LA Times. On the day he disappeared, Norman Hsu, the disgraced fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign, sent letters to friends that recipients viewed as a suicide note, people familiar with the letter have said. In his letter, Hsu apologized for any embarrassment he had caused recipients of his largesse. In the last four years,...