Hillary Clinton drops fugitive fundraiser
by Tom Baldwin
Hillary Clinton has been forced cut all ties to the fugitive
fundraiser Norman Hsu, announcing that she will return more than
$850,000 he secured for her campaign from more than 250 donors.
Aides have also promised that from now on they will require major
fundraisers to submit to additional vetting procedures, including
criminal background checks.
The extraordinary measures are designed to limit the damage inflicted
to her campaign after a series of embarrassing disclosures about Mr Hsu
which have rekindled memories of the funding scandals surrounding Bill
Clinton's presidency in the 1990s.
Previously, Mrs Clinton had planned only to give to charity the
$23,000 she received from Mr Hsu directly for her presidential and
senatorial campaigns. That decision followed his fall from grace this
month when it was revealed that he was a fugitive from justice in a
15-year-old criminal case in California.
But this week it was reported that the FBI was investigating whether
Mr Hsu paid "straw donors" to send campaign contributions to Mrs Clinton
and other candidates. Under US campaign finance laws, the maximum
donation to a candidate is limited to $2,300.
There is increasing concern about the activities of fundraising
"bundlers" such as Mr Hsu, who ask friends and acquaintances to donate
to campaigns. In his case, they included the Paw family in Daly City,
California, who despite living in low-income housing are shown to have
given more than $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005.
Last month a lawyer from Detroit was indicted for making $125,000 in
illegally bundled contributions to John Edwards's 2004 presidential
campaign.
Another indication of the pressure they may be exerting is the rising
number of contributions from secretaries, administrative assistants and
executive assistants for whom a $1,000 political contribution may be a
big expense.
The Washington Post has reported how at this point in the campaign
four years ago, 127 donors making contributions listed one of those
three occupations. In the first six months of this year the number was
526 and the average payment was for nearly $800.
Mr Hsu, who has also made contributions to other political campaigns
including that of Barack Obama, has described the outstanding fraud
charges as a misunderstanding.
But last week he failed to show up at a court hearing in Redwood
City, California. Instead, he booked passage on an Amtrak train headed
to Chicago.
It was reported that passengers in the sleeper compartment across the
aisle noticed a hat, a book and other items spilling into the hallway
from under the door. The next morning, the curtains were still drawn.
Returning from breakfast, one passenger peeked in and saw a person
wedged against the door in the foetal position, bare-chested.
After conductors used a crowbar to pry the door open, it was said
that Mr Hsu "could not stand", pills were rolling around on the floor of
the compartment and he asked Amtrak attendants if he was in jail. He is
now being treated in hospital.
Mrs Clinton's spokesman Howard Wolfson said: "In light of recent
events and allegations that Mr Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal
investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to
return the money he raised for our campaign."
Timesonline, UK |
