NYT: Shadowy Money Trail of a Fugitive Fund-Raiser

[flpoljunkie]

September 9, 2007

Shadowy Money Trail of a Fugitive Fund-Raiser

By MIKE McINTIRE

At the center of the ever-deepening mystery of Norman Hsu, the fugitive fund-raiser who was captured after a brief flight from the law last week, is the question of how he evolved from a bankrupt swindler in 1992 to a wealthy donor to many Democratic candidates, and a bundler of campaign contributions to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2007.

A review of financial records for one of Mr. Hsu’s companies begins to shed light on some of his recent activities, including his dealings with a circle of campaign contributors that has fallen under suspicion since news of Mr. Hsu’s criminal past, murky business interests and unexplained riches rocked the Democratic Party.

The records show that Components Ltd., a company controlled by Mr. Hsu that has no obvious business purpose and appears to exist only on paper, has paid a total of more than $100,000 to at least nine people who made campaign contributions to Mrs. Clinton and others through Mr. Hsu. The payments occurred in the spring of 2003, several months before Mr. Hsu emerged as a contributor to Democrats and more than a year before he started bundling checks from those same people for various campaigns. In all, he has raised more than $1 million for Democrats.

The records make clear that the group was more than just a loose collection of friends, family and co-workers that bundlers typically rely on when raising money for a candidate. Rather, each person had a direct financial relationship with Mr. Hsu, either receiving money from his company or paying into it, even though many of them appear to have other jobs or businesses independent of him. The purpose of the payments, and whether they related to business costs, fees or expenses, is unclear.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/us/politics/09hsu.html?hp

[AlGore-08.com]

1. Can't say it enough - - this is why we need public financing of campaigns

No matter who the pol is, there are going to be people with agendas and criminals who contribute to them. And there will always be pols who are willing to sell their votes for campaign contributions.

[flpoljunkie]

2. I could not agree more. Urge your members of Congress to support Durbin's Fair Elections Now Act!

Tell Congress: Support Fair Elections Now!

Today's political campaigns are getting more expensive every year, and even good candidates with the best of intentions must too often turn to special interests to raise the millions of dollars necessary to win a competitive race. As long as that is the case, people will ask -- justifiably -- if their elected officials are standing up for a policy because it is good for the people, or good for the special interests writing the checks.

That is why I am introducing the "Fair Elections Now Act." It would break the dependence on special interest money in Congressional elections once and for all by providing public funds to qualified candidates.

Urge your Members of Congress to support the "Fair Elections Now Act" and its companion bill in the House now!

http://ga3.org/campaign/fair_elections?rk=y1evRUn1ugUnE