LATimes: Hillary Clinton Returning $850,000 Linked to Fundraiser Norman Hsu

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-hsu11sep11,0,1526846.story?coll=la-home-center

From the Los Angeles Times
Clinton returning $850,000 linked to Hsu

The money came from 260 donors associated with the disgraced Democratic fundraiser. The campaign had recently called him 'legit.'

By Robin Fields, Chuck Neubauer and Tom Hamburger
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

4:39 PM PDT, September 10, 2007

WASHINGTON — Confronted with new evidence that it had ignored warnings about fundraiser Norman Hsu, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign abruptly announced late today that it was returning $850,000 from 260 donors associated with Hsu.

The announcement was made five minutes after the Los Angeles Times asked Clinton officials to respond to mid-June campaign e-mails the newspaper obtained that dismissed concerns about Hsu and his business practices.

"I can tell you with 100 certainty that Norman Hsu is NOT involved in a ponzi scheme," wrote Samantha Wolf, who had the title West Coast finance director for the campaign. She has since left the campaign. "He is COMPLETELY legit." She wrote the e-mail in June to a party official who was asking questions about Hsu and his reputation in the financial world.

The campaign also announced it was instituting new procedures to check out major contributors, including running criminal background checks.

Hsu, 56, has contributed or raised more than $1.2 million for Clinton and other Democrats -- one of the party's leading fundraisers. But Hsu became a source of embarrassment after The Times revealed in late August that he was a fugitive wanted on a 15-year-old bench warrant stemming from an early 1990s investment fraud case. He called the matter a misunderstanding, then failed to show at a San Mateo County hearing and was rearrested last week in Colorado after falling ill there on an eastbound train.

[spotbird]

1. Good to hear there are

criminals whose money is too tainted for her, at least after she is caught.

[saracat]

2. So this means she raised less than we thought/ Wonder how much else is tainted? But I give her

credit for returning the money.It was the right thing to do!

[illinoisprogressive]

3. there is something very ugly going on underneath and it needs to be

investigated before the primaries. Can you imagine if she was the nominee and the full story was uncovered with Hillary, outsourcing, her corrupt donors from China and India (another big donor from India is in trouble)and her greed and need for power.

[emilyg]

6. Please don't leave Obama out and the Asian group.

[Nimrod2005]

4. WOW, that's a big number, I thought it was ONLY $3500?

If you want the circus back in town, vote for her!

[Colobo]

5. It seems like many want that stuff back!