Dems Flee From Fugitive Clinton Donor

As troubles mount for The Pantsuit and fugitive donor Norman Hsu, Democrats are running for the tall grass and are rushing to return possibly suspect donations.

Democrats Give Away Fundraiser's Cash

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.

Showing how feckless and pathetic they are, not a single Democrat presidential candidate has even dared mention this brewing scandal, nor does much of the media have interest in it.

UPDATE: Well, what do you know, now Mrs. Clinton is, ahem, giving the money back. Or playing cute, actually, by donating it to charity.

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton will give to charity the $23,000 in donations she has received from a fundraiser who is wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge.

The decision came Wednesday as other Democrats began distancing themselves from Norman Hsu, whose legal encounters and links to other Democratic donors have drawn public scrutiny in the past two days.

This is a woman who itemized Bill's underwear when last seen "donating" to charity.

Next time anyone mentions this, we'll be told it's old news.