Posted on 11/01/2007 12:17:34 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Clinton's fundraiser raises questions By ADAM GOLDMAN and JAMES KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writers 19 minutes ago
NEW YORK - On the wall of Hsiao Yen Wang's apartment, a cramped, 17th-floor public housing unit on the city's Lower East Side, are photographs of her husband, David Guo, a cook who specializes in Fujian cuisine.
One photo stands out: Guo shaking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's hand, a memento from a $1,000-a-person fundraiser for the New York senator held in New York's Chinatown last April.
Last week, Wang got another memento — a calling card from a Justice Department criminal investigator. The investigator asked Wang if she was coerced into giving money to the campaign and whether she knew of anybody else who may have been forced to contribute.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Wang said she and her husband had given willingly and that she knew of no coercion. A Justice Department spokeswoman would not comment on the inquiries.
"I want to see her become the first female U.S. president," Wang, a hospital worker, said of Clinton as her daughter translated.
Still, less than three weeks after the April 9 fundraiser, the Clinton campaign's vetting operation had flagged the check and returned it. Wang's contribution, delivered by Guo, was one of a handful obtained at the Chinatown event that the campaign turned back, citing an "abundance of caution."
Clinton has tapped a vein of support among ethnic, minority and immigrant communities with vigorous outreach that has helped her become one of the best-financed candidates in the presidential field. Under federal law, donors do not have to be citizens to contribute but must be in the United States legally.
The April fundraiser, held in Chinatown's Golden Bridge Restaurant, illustrates both the pitfalls and the success Clinton has experienced with her fundraising operation.
The event attracted nearly 300 donors from as far away as Maryland. Shortly after, about $380,000 poured into the Clinton campaign from attendees and their families. Many were owners or managers of other restaurants. Among the rest were lawyers, business owners, real estate agents and artists.
According to reports filed by the Clinton campaign with the Federal Election Commission, seven donors identified themselves as cooks, three as chefs, three as servers, two as cashiers, one as a dishwasher and cook and one as a waiter.
Details of the event were first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
FEC records show that the campaign returned at least $8,000 in checks to at least eight donors, most of them at the end of June. Among those donors were four identified as cooks and one as a cashier. The campaign also returned $4,3000 to a donor who appeared to have earlier given the maximum allowed by law.
The campaign appears to have missed some others.
In one small store, a woman said she donated to the Clinton campaign but didn't have citizenship or a green card. A man living in a Brooklyn boarding house who identified himself as an artist said he also gave $1,000, but said he, too, has no citizenship and no green card.
Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said in an e-mail response to the AP that all donors are asked to fill out cards that state they must be citizens or green card holders. "Is it possible that out of more than 200,000 donors, two may not be? It is," he said. "Of course we would refund any such contributions."
The Associated Press conducted a spot check of 44 addresses listed in campaign finance documents as belonging to donors at the April 9 fundraiser. All the addresses checked out and reporters spoke to 19 persons who said they donated.
One address was a mahjong parlor. At another, a donor identified as a cashier could not be found, and the building superintendent said he had not heard of the person. Associates of some people listed as donors said they were in China and could not be contacted. Others did not return messages left with families.
Chung Seto, the organizer of the Chinatown event, said Chinese have a culture of thrift and it wouldn't be surprising for workers with meager wages to make $1,000 donations. She said donors stood in line for up to three hours waiting for the fundraising event to begin. Any mistakes in vetting contributors, she said, were a result of enthusiasm, not coercion.
"Some people were very eager, and some were overeager," she said in an interview, acknowledging the returned checks.
Seto, an activist in the Chinese-American community and a former executive director of the New York Democratic Party, said Chinatown residents hold Clinton in special esteem. They particularly remember her help during the economic downturn that hit the lower Manhattan neighborhood after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The attention to the Chinatown fundraiser comes a month after the Clinton camp returned more than $800,000 to donors whose contributions were linked to Norman Hsu, who has been accused in a federal investigation of bilking investors and using some of his profits to make illegal donations to political campaigns. None of those returned contributions appear to have originated at the Chinatown fundraiser, and Seto said Hsu played no role in the event.
Seto voiced frustration that Hsu, who is a native of Hong Kong, and the Chinatown fundraising event in New York have cast the Chinese community in a negative light. She stressed that Hsu operated in different circles and that few people in Chinatown knew him.
"If there are people who ought not to have given, then we should refund the money," Seto said. "But we should not just categorically scrutinize this community."
The fundraising event offers a glimpse into the tightly knit Chinese immigrant community, which is organized by family and social associations. Seto said she relied on association leaders to spread the word and get members to attend the event.
One was Jimmy Cheng, a leader in Chinatown's Fujian community. He displayed a business card that identified him as general manager of the East Market Restaurant, vice president executive director of the American Chinese Voters Alliance Corp., vice president of the United Fujianese American Association, president of the Continental Garment Manufacturing Association, CEO of the Fu Jian Star Inc. and co-chair of New York Chinese Americans for Hillary Clinton.
"I'm not scared," he said. "We don't do anything wrong."
According to Cheng's business card, his e-mail address is SKCheng. The Clinton campaign lists donations of $1,000 in the names of Jimmy Cheng, Shin Kan Cheng, Shin K Cheng and Shih Kan Chang, all received on April 17. Donors can give up to $4,600, with $2,300 designated for the primary and another $2,300 for the general election.
After initially speaking to a reporter, Cheng declined to be interviewed and did not reply to e-mail messages. Cheng's brother, Shimin Zheng, also helped put together the fundraising event, according to people who attended.
Wolfson, with the Clinton campaign, said the contributions were received as four separate credit card donations.
"At the time last April, based on the handwriting received, the committee concluded that these were four separate contributors and reported them as such," he said. "If upon review, it turns out that these four contributions were from the same individual, the committee will take appropriate steps to correct its reports."
A sign promoting the event still hangs on a wall at Cheng's East Market Restaurant. It warns that those wanting to attend must be U.S. citizens or hold green cards.
"If you come, you may have the opportunity to shake her hand and take a picture with her," it reads. "This is a very good opportunity. You can't miss it."
Indeed, photographs of donors with Clinton are popular in Chinatown.
On a wall of Deguang Pan's Precise Dental Art office, tucked away on the fourth floor of a building on one of Chinatown's bustling blocks, is a photograph, taken at the fundraiser, of Clinton and Pan against a false backdrop of the U.S. Capitol.
His brother, Desheng Pan, has a similar photo in his dental office across the street. He attended the same fundraiser. A relative who helped put together the event told them about it, the brothers said.
In midtown Manhattan, a photograph of Bill Clinton hangs inside a massage parlor called Green Qi Gong Tui-Na, which boasts "The Best Chinese Massage." The general manager, Guosui Huang, who has a green card, said she attended the April 9 fundraiser after seeing an advertisement in the local Chinese newspaper, World Journal. She, too, gave $1,000, she said.
Deguang Pan, who speaks only a few words in English, said he's not a U.S. citizen but has a green card. He said he is interested in American politics and paid the $1,000 donation with his credit card.
"I like Hillary," he said through a translator as he stepped away from a patient whose mouth was agape.
___
Looks more like a cover story for Hillary than a shark attack.
Sounds like a Clinton CYA PR release. Every other story implies that due diligence is not being exercised. This sounds like a story that needs further “fact checking”.
I disagree...in the past they would never mention let alone dedicate such a story to Chinese donations so openly...not to mention showing how free flowing funds are coming from the Chinese underground.
I think something happened in the debates the other night...she was caught a few times in one of her famous triangulation moments.
I get the feeling we are about to see a turn of protective stories for Obama...China stories are never favorable with the Clintons.
Interesting article.
But after reading it, I don’t think the AP smells blood in the water and are fired up to go after Her Heinous.
Instead, I think they are rushing in to “explain” to the sheep why what she did is OK, even though it stinks to high heaven of corruption and lawbreaking.
“Nothing here, move along! Trust us! Not your own lyin’ eyes — and especially not your nose!”
Again, I disagree...I rarely see the AP go after a Chinese donation story so openly with any Clinton. I think they are bringing this story to light for a reason...they wouldn’t draw light to it otherwise...there is something else here they have to be sitting on.
Connecting threads.....
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1919602/posts?page=70
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Posted on 11/01/2007 12:53:23 PM CDT by doug from upland
Again, I disagree...I rarely see the AP go after a Chinese donation story so openly with any Clinton. I think they are bringing this story to light for a reason...they wouldn’t draw light to it otherwise...there is something else here they have to be sitting on. I mean they are even mentioning a massage parlor and Bill Clinton in the same story....not typical water pail carrying for them if you ask me.
This is pure whitewash. Poor thrifty Chinese immigrants don’t show their thrift by showering thousands of dollars on ONE political candidate.
They are front men for powerful foreign (Chinese) interests who are out to buy themselves a president with money we gave them for lead painted toys and poisonous cat food.
Just like they did the first time with Bill and we are still seeing the damage. There is a reason why AP is shining the light on the Chinese here and it has nothing to do with putting a positive spin on it IMO.
Looks like there’s good money in being a Translator.
Wanna bet Bank of America gave him that credit card?
I can understand your desire to see her finally pay for her fundraising “discrepancies” but this looks like Clinton war room work to me, getting out ahead of the story with plausible deniability excuses.
>> Again, I disagree...
I call ‘em like I see ‘em, but trust me — I hope and pray you are right and it IS the start of a feeding frenzy on Hillary! It will be my genuine pleasure to admit that you were right and I was wrong!
When was the law changed to allow non citizens (legally in the US) to contribute to a US political campaign ? This must be corrected pronto.
Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if most of these people actually did make the donations out of their own pockets. Given that many speak little or no English and are still living under assumptions they brought from China about how things work, they are likely to assume that “requests” for campaign contributions from political office-holders are really demands for bribes, which must be paid, or else. No doubt there are some shrewder members of the community acting as liaisons between the common donors and campaign staff, and they are presumably not interested in disabusing anyone of the notion that the donation requests are must-pay items. These liaisons no doubt correctly assume that political favors await them (but not the little people) for ensuring that these big bundles of cash get raked into the campaign coffers.
While we’re on the subject of all these bottom-of-the-ladder workers who can readily cough up $1000 checks to political campaigns, we should keep in mind that this is exactly the segment of society Hillary and her ilk point to when they insist we need a national health care system, because insurance is unaffordable to low income working people.
“But we should not just categorically scrutinize this community.”
of communists?, of illegal donors?
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