Democrats Give Away Fundraiser's Cash
Aug 29 06:11 PM US/Eastern
By JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press Writer
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats began distancing themselves Wednesday from a fundraiser who is wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge.
Al Franken, a Senate candidate in Minnesota, Rep. Michael Honda of California and Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania said they would divest their campaigns of donations from Norman Hsu, whose legal encounters and links to other Democratic donors have drawn public scrutiny in the past two days.
Hsu is a fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and is described as a devoted fan of the presidential candidate and New York senator. He planned to co-host a money event for Clinton on Sept. 30. In a statement Wednesday, Hsu said he believed he had resolved his legal issues and was unaware that he faced a warrant.
Reports in The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times this week have caused numerous Democratic candidates and organization who have benefited from Hsu's contributions to reconsider the donations.
Franken's campaign received $2,300 from Hsu and Sestak and Honda each received $1,000 for their re-election efforts.
The Clinton campaign did not immediately comment on Hsu's legal situation. But in a statement issued Tuesday, the campaign defended Hsu in response to the Journal report about a San Francisco family whose contribution patterns tracked Hsu's.
"Norman Hsu is a longtime and generous supporter of the Democratic Party and its candidates, including Senator Clinton," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement Tuesday. "During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question or to return them."
Federal Election Commission records show that Hsu has donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004. Though a fundraiser for Clinton, he also donated to Sen. Barack Obama's Senate campaign in 2004 and to Obama's political action committee.
In 1991, Hsu pleaded no contest to a single felony count of grand theft but failed to show up in court for sentencing, according to Ronald Smetana, a California deputy attorney general who prosecuted the case.
Smetana said there is an outstanding warrant for Hsu's arrest. A clerk at the San Mateo County courthouse where Hsu was prosecuted said the warrant was issued in 1992 and orders were for $2 million bail for Hsu if he were arrested.
Smetana said Hsu collected about $1 million from investors by falsely claiming he had a contract to import latex gloves. Smetana said he planned to ask a judge to sentence Smetana to prison.
Smetana said he figured Hsu, a Hong Kong native, had fled the country.
"We would obviously like Mr. Hsu to return and face justice," said Smetana, who said he had assumed Hsu, a Hong Kong native, had fled the country.
In a statement Wednesday, Hsu said:
"I believe I properly resolved all of the legal issues related to my bankruptcy in the early 1990s. Therefore, I was surprised to learn that there appears to be an outstanding warrant—as demonstrated by the fact that I have and do live a public life. I have not sought to evade any of my obligations and certainly not the law."
On Tuesday, Hsu's Washington attorney, E. Lawrence Barcella Jr., disputed any suggestion that Hsu had any hand in improperly directing contributions from other donors. The Journal reported that six members of the family of William Paw, a San Francisco mail carrier, donated a total of $45,000 to Clinton since 2005. The Journal reported that the donations closely track Hsu's contributions.
While the Journal created a stir in Democratic circles, the final straw for some candidates seemed to be Hsu's legal troubles in California, first reported by the Times Wednesday.
"Congressman Sestak is always grateful for the support of people who contribute to him, but in light of the new criminal charges revealed today, the Sestak Campaign decided to return Norman Hsu's campaign contribution."
Honda, however, planned to donate to charity $5,000 received from Hsu as well as members of the Paw family and one other donor whom his staff could not immediately identify. Spokeswoman Gloria Chan said the money would go to local community organizations but that Honda hadn't yet decided which ones.
"While there's no information that we have or evidence showing that the contributions were illegal in any way, we have a campaign policy that if we have information that a contributor or someone directing contributions to the campaign has or may have committed a felony, then it's the policy to either return the funds or make a charitable donation," said Chan.
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Associated Press writer Paul Elias reported from San Francisco and Fred Frommer, Erica Werner and Kimberly Hefling contributed from Washington, D.C. |
