Clinton Campaign Donates Fugitive Contributor's Money to Charity
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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
>Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign announced late Wednesday that it will give all money donated by a leading contributor to charity after it was revealed that the donor, Norman Hsu, was a fugitive from the law.
Hsu, who may have raised more than $1 million for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said he had done nothing wrong and had asked no favors in return.
A California prosecutor says Hsu pleaded no contest to grand theft and was facing a sentence of up to three years in prison when he disappeared, The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
"In light of the new information regarding Mr. Hsu's outstanding warrant in California, we will be giving his contributions to charity," Phil Singer, from the Clinton Presidential Exploratory Committee, told FOX News.
Click here to read the story in The Los Angeles Times.
"He is a fugitive," Ronald Smetana, who handled the case for the state attorney general, said in an interview with the newspaper. "Do you know where he is?"
Hsu, an apparel executive who made his first-ever political contribution — to John Kerry — in 2004, is listed as one of the top 20 Democratic fundraisers in the country and is one of Clinton's "HillRaisers" — people who rustle up at least $100,000 for Clinton's campaign, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Click here to read the report in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Hsu, who is described by friends as warm, charming and dapper, told the newspaper this week that his generosity is a byproduct of the enormous success he has had in the U.S.
"I have been blessed by what this country has given me and have tried to give back in many ways," Hsu said in an e-mail to The Wall Street Journal. "One way has been through political contributions to candidates and causes I believe in. I have never asked for anything in return. I've asked friends and colleagues of mine to give money out of their own pockets and sometimes they have agreed."
But Hsu attracted attention recently because some of the people he's asked to contribute don't outwardly appear to be able to afford the donations. Now, his low profile — even some in the Clinton big money cycle have never heard of him — seems to be due to an ulterior motive.
In 1991, Hsu pleaded guilty to grand theft after raising $1 million in investments for a phony business, Smetana said. Bench warrants were issued when he failed to show up to his sentencing hearing.
Hsu's lawyer, Lawrence Barcella, said Hsu doesn't remember ever making a deal with authorities, but he does recall a legal case that was part of a settlement with creditors when he went through bankruptcy.
On top of that, among those who have "bundled" their contributions along with Hsu's is one San Francisco family of seven adults whose home is small and under the airport flight path, jobs are average and $213,000 in donations are closely coordinated with Hsu's.
Hsu's relationship to the Paw family apparently goes back a decade, and Winkle Paw, 35, is an employee of Hsu's New York companies, The Wall Street Journal was first to report. Barcella told The Los Angeles Times the Paws have their own cash, and "Norman never reimbursed anyone for their contribution."
Another New York family of three that runs a plastics packaging plant in Pennsylvania and is tied to Hsu donated more than $200,000 in the last three years, the Times states.< |
