Cool Changes
What made Norman Hsu run? So asks the Wall Street Journal. Let's start the story from the time he was a bankrupt in 1990.
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In October 1990 he divorced, after his wife filed a petition citing "unhappy and irreconcilable differences." Mr. Hsu was practically destitute, according to bankruptcy documents. He owed $1.64 million to a long list of people, including his father-in-law, who had lent him money. The documents said he was renting a home for $1,750 a month in Foster City and spending $75 a month for clothes.
Mr. Hsu vanished just before his scheduled sentencing in 1992. He soon began building new businesses, this time in Hong Kong.
Let's take up the story from Hong Kong, where Hsu is without two dimes he can rub together to keep company. According to the WSJ, things didn't get better. Then he moved back to California -- a fugitive let's not forget -- where things may or may not have improved.
But his star also fell in Hong Kong. Both companies were dissolved in 1997 and 1998. The Hong Kong courts declared Mr. Hsu bankrupt in the summer of 1998.
Mr. Hsu soon returned to California, creating another chain of addresses near San Francisco and Los Angeles. Real-estate brokers in the area say that he actively invested in properties in the Bay area. He continued dabbling in the apparel industry as well. A few years ago, Mr. Hsu's activity in the Bay Area tapered off. And he appeared to move to New York. And he emerged in another circle -- political fund-raising in New York.
Just how or why he got involved in politics is unclear. In 2004, Mr. Hsu donated $2,000, the most then allowed, to the presidential campaign of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry.
We are in 2004 before Hsu becomes a political player. And from appearances, Hsu is strictly from hunger, giving just $2,000 to John Kerry. But suddenly his fortune changes and within a short time Norman gets a lot of money to throw around.
Mr. Hsu began contributing generously to an array of Democrats, including California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu. He donated $5,000 to Bob Hertzberg, who was running for mayor of Los Angeles. When Bill Richardson ran for governor of New Mexico, Mr. Hsu was among the top contributors, donating $37,000 in all. ... In 2004, Mr. Hsu began giving to federal candidates, including Mrs. Clinton and Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. ...
In 2005 things begin to really ramp up.
... he frequently threw parties. To celebrate the Democrats' victories in Congress, the Senate and gubernatorial races, he rented a New York club called Buddakan. With several governors and others in the audience, Mr. Hsu grabbed the microphone, according to someone who was there, and ordered anyone who wasn't supporting Hillary Clinton to "get out!"
Mr. Hsu also was a burgeoning philanthropist. He was a significant donor to the Innocence Project, which helps prisoners overturn unfair convictions through DNA testing.
Mr. Hsu also is listed on the roster of members for the Clinton Global Initiative -- an effort by Mrs. Clinton's husband, the former president, to recruit people to tackle problems like poverty and disease -- in 2005 and 2006. Members are required to donate $15,000 a year.
And the rest is history. Question. What happened between 2000 and 2004 that suddenly turned his fortunes around? Prior to that Hsu was just a shady operator. Afterwards he was player. Maybe investigations in the coming weeks will shed light on this transition.
POSTED BY WRETCHARD
fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com
A reader comment:
Well that's the Hillary and DNC line. No doubt Obama's and Feinstein's and Richardson's and the rest as well.
BUT ... WHERE did Hsu get all the CASH?
HOW did he evade arrest for all those years on a California Warrant while hobnobbing with bigwigs and getting his picture taken?
Hsu made no real effort to hide.
So WHO pulled strings to quash the warrant?
WHO pulled strings to let him out on bail AGAIN and let him do a runner?
And WHO dropped the dime on Shrillary to the WSJ? [Guess -- Edwards, who made his money doing opposition research as a trial lawyer.]
This isn't going away. SOMEONE had to front Hsu millions. SOMEONE had to pull strings to keep him out of jail and then let him do a runner. SOMEONE else had to drop the dime on him in exquisite detail. And Shrillary/Obama too.
The millions? Probably the Chinese government.
Why Hsu? He's probably related to someone important in China. His record of skating on charges suggests he's protected. Protected because he's family. Not because he's super-sharp or what have you.
The question is, who is he related to? How did Edwards find out about him? [My guess, researching records and talking to fired Shrillary people.]
My gosh, I'm in awe of the sheer Machiavellian nature of Edwards if this is right (and it was Edwards feeding the WSJ). Nixonian levels of "screw your enemies."
Pass the popcorn. I haven't been this entertained since Mayor Tony's "Summer of Love" with all his bimbos errupting all over the place.
9/08/2007 12:12:00 AM |
