Disgraced Democrat Donor On The Run Again

(AP)  Disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was a wanted man again after he failed to show up for a court date Wednesday and a judge issued a new warrant for his arrest.

Hsu, whose criminal past has roiled the campaigns of top presidential candidates, was scheduled to ask a judge to cut in half the $2 million bail he posted last week when he turned himself in after spending 15 years on the lam from a felony theft conviction.

Instead, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Robert Foiles ordered Hsu's bail forfeited to the county and issued a new arrest warrant. If Hsu is arrested again, he will be jailed without bail this time.

Hsu, a Hong Kong native, was also supposed to turn over his passport Wednesday. Hsu's prominent Silicon Valley criminal defense attorney Jim Brosnahan said Hsu failed to give the passport to the legal team on Monday.

"Mr. Hsu is not here and we do not know where Mr. Hsu is," Brosnahan said outside court. Brosnahan said that "there was some contact" with Hsu a few hours before the scheduled 9 a.m. court appearance, but he declined to say how and who talked to Hsu.

Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he'd defrauded investors of $1 million after falsely claiming to have contracts to purchase and sell Latex gloves. He was facing up to three years in prison when he skipped town before his 1992 sentencing date.

Prosecutors said they suspected Hsu fled the country then. But a few years ago, Hsu re-emerged in New York as an apparel executive and a wealthy benefactor of Democratic causes and candidates. They included presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose campaign designated Hsu a "HillRaiser" — a title given to top donors.

Brosnahan said he didn't know if Hsu returned to his Manhattan condominium or stayed in California after his five-hour jail stint Friday when Hsu turned himself in. He was released from jail after posting $2 million bail, which a judge refused then to reduce to $1 million.

Prosecutors with the California Attorney General's office had agreed to the bail reduction because it would be used to reimburse the victims Hsu admitted swindling out of $1 million in the early 1990s.

"We did think that was enough," Deputy Attorney General Ralph Sivilla said outside court. Sivilla also said he was troubled that Hsu didn't turn in his passport.

Federal Election Commission records show Hsu donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004. Though a top fundraiser for Clinton, he also donated to Obama's Senate campaign in 2004 and to his political action committee. He also contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to state and municipal candidates.

After reports surfaced of his fugitive status, politicians at all levels scrambled to distance themselves. On Wednesday, Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who initially said he would keep the $6,200 from Hsu, announced that he would give the money to charity.

Kennedy had originally counted $6,600 in donations, but a review of federal campaign records showed it was actually $6,200.

Obama's campaign said it would give to charity the $2,000 Hsu contributed to his 2004 Senate campaign and the $5,000 Hsu gave to his political action committee, Hopefund.

Hsu's $43,700 in donations to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $2,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also will go to charity, both groups said.

Clinton joined the other candidates, returning $23,000 in contributions that Hsu made to her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac. But his close association with her campaign put Clinton on the defensive.

Last week, Hsu said he thought the criminal charges had been taken care of when he completed his bankruptcy proceedings in the early 1990s.

"I have not sought to evade any of my obligations and certainly not the law," Hsu said in a prepared statement.

[klingon69]

so, you''''re saying the Clintons found out when we did that he''''s a criminal right? And what did they do shortly thereafter? give up the $$! I''''d say that''''s honorable.
Being as this person has contributed to major/minor Democratic campaigns for several years, I would say that they didn''t just find out about him, no they decided to look honorable only after it came to light that he had a 15 yr outstanding warrant for his arrest.

[actornaught]

"...when democratic corruption actually receives media attention, the leftwingers pounce all over CBS...

It''s a joke. I''ll even explain it. It''s called ''irony''. Every article that''s covered the many ''pub ethics failures has brought out sqwawks of ''liberal MSM'' from the hate-radio parrots. Then the more comical ones by moron ''cons on those articles recently have claimed this story isn''t being covered. But this has been covered here at CBS since the morning it ''came out''.

I will say that pretty much all of the neocon posters show a pattern of being humorless. And not too bright.

This story has practically nothing to do with Clinton. 20-year background checks isn''t realistic, and you KNOW your empty suit candidates aren''t doing any such checks.

[rhs648]

All of this means so little. Both major parties have dishonest people and honest people, too. Likewise, this is true of party supporters. Does this make everyone dishonest? Of course not. Equate this to a high school. Every school has hard working students and kids who aren''t interested in learning. Even independent candidates and some of their supporters can be dishonest. It would be great if our institutions dismissed people who are found to be dishonest. Self-policing, although unlikely, would be ideal.

[xzavierbrown]

Ahhh hello neo con press

Mitt Romney''''s national finance co-chairman, Alan B. Fabian, recently was indicted on 23 counts of money laundering, fraud, perjury, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes


Posted by pepperp1 at 10:49 PM : Sep 05, 2007
+ report abuse

*******

good for him..now can we focus on this guy??or are you hoping that if you cry about what somebody else did ..the world would forget what Hsu''s action and its involvement with the DNC?? or are you going to allow these types infiltrating your precious party??

[xzavierbrown]

here is an instance with overwhelming evidence of fraud and these liberals would create very flowery and very imaginative conspiracy to excuse these types of behaviour..

[johnshaft4]

Apparently, because this guy has the "right stuff", the reason that he was a "no show" is because Karl Rove recognized his intrinsic GOP family values and kidnapped him in order to convert him into a "Master Mind", Christian, Republican, tax devouring, Homosexual criminal...

[erichsh]

I see a familiar pattern here. When CBS runs an article critical of a Republican (as it does so frequently), the leftwingers pounce all over the individual and Republicans in general. On those rare occasions when democratic corruption actually receives media attention, the leftwingers pounce all over CBS and Republicans in general. Either way one can expect the usual torrent of name-calling and snide, condescending remarks, and the usual dearth of intelligent commentary. It gets old, it really does.

[fairandbal]

Can it be any more clear that CBS is full of a bunch of GOP operatives? How many years of investigations into Abramoff and he was NEVER listed as a GOP fund raiser by the MSM. And yet that''s the only party helped. Funny CBS, you keep doing your best to bring the GOP back in 2008.

[pepperp1]

Ahhh hello neo con press

Mitt Romney''s national finance co-chairman, Alan B. Fabian, recently was indicted on 23 counts of money laundering, fraud, perjury, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes

[pwrslm]

thompson was in mccains campain in 2k....he knows all the ins and outs bout campain finance reform....would not put it past thompson to make that one of his primary issues