NYT: Clinton Sees Fear Realized in Trouble With Donor

[Colobo]

Yet nine months into her campaign, Mrs. Clinton is grappling with exactly the situation she feared — giving up nearly $900,000 that had been donated or raised by Norman Hsu, a one-time fugitive and one of her top fund-raisers, whose actions raise serious questions about how well the campaign vetted its donors. As a result, Mrs. Clinton now finds herself linked to a convicted criminal who brought in tens of thousands of dollars from potentially tainted sources.

The Hsu case has revived ugly memories for voters about the Democratic fund-raising scandals when Bill Clinton was president, the senator’s campaign advisers acknowledge, a time when both Clintons were often photographed with people whose money later turned out to be dirty, including Johnny Chung and Charlie Trie. Mrs. Clinton is running on her White House experience in the 1990s, and any attention cast on past fund-raising controversies could threaten her image with voters.

Even some of her own major donors are aghast that, given the Clintons’ past problems with fund-raising, Mrs. Clinton’s vetting process did not uncover Mr. Hsu’s criminal history. Even though Mr. Hsu had previously donated to other politicians and charities without his past surfacing, these donors say, the Clinton operation had been widely considered one of the best-run in recent campaigns — until now.

“People have often said about the Clintons, they don’t care who they hang out with as long as the people can be helpful to them,” said one of Mrs. Clinton’s major fund-raisers. “The larger point in all of this is that the Clintons are the ultimate pragmatists in who they hang out with; if you can be useful to them, they will find a way to make it work.”

Advisers say Mrs. Clinton is not so much furious about the scandal, as she is worried about containing the political damage.

To that end, Clinton campaign aides refused yesterday to release the names of the 260 donors whom Mr. Hsu recruited to the campaign, preferring to wait until they finish their own research on the individuals. Mrs. Clinton and her advisers are concerned that rival campaigns or the news media will dig into the background of each donor, and they want to be prepared if some of the donors end up having money funneled to them from Mr. Hsu or have shady backgrounds.

The campaign is refunding $850,000 to these donors, viewing the money as tainted. Yet the campaign is also risking another public relations mess by saying that it would take back the money if it clearly came from the donor’s bank account, not from Mr. Hsu or another source. The risk is that Mrs. Clinton will appear to want more cash no matter whether it was once colored by a disgraced donor.

More at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/us/politics/12clinton.html?hp

[illinoisprogressive]

1. the campaign says it doesn't think the story has broken thru with voters

And they will make sure it stays that way, bribes and threats.....

[ElizabethDC]

2. Got any proof of that, illinoisprogressive?

Or just more unfounded accusations?

[durrrty libby]

4. It needs to get sued for defamation. That might shut it up

[Colobo]

3. I honestly think voters are not really paying attention to any of this.

although they should be more interested in the politics of their nation at this point... too much at stake!

[Captain Hilts]

5. He donated to Rendell and lot of other Dems. nt

[Colobo]

6. Dude even donated to Obama, but most of his $$$ went to Hillary.

[sandnsea]

7. Chung, Huang, Trie, Chatwal, vin Gupta, Hsu

Why are we doing this to ourselves. They haven't changed a bit.

[fujiyama]

11. Have any reason why so many of the names are Asian?

[sandnsea]

12. Chatwal and Vin Gupta are Indian

And now somebody will come along and call this post racist and get it deleted. :eyes:

I've got no idea what drives these various scandals.

[lynnertic]

21. not everyone is european?

[Bitwit1234]

8. Was she afraid like Obama when he accepted the money from

his friend the gangster.

[sandnsea]

13. That was an unfounded campaign attack

You do know that, correct?

[PhD]

14. Sounds like good ol' throw out the bums politics

Where everyone is a bum but the guy you support! :)

[sandnsea]

15. No, there are facts and lies

Some politician in Chicago was attacked because his family owned a bank that loaned money to a mob guy. No crime, no charges, just an unfounded campaign attack.

[PhD]

16. As a former Illinoisan, I don't trust any of its politicians

There isn't a one untouched by corruption.

[sandnsea]

17. That's ridiculous

That's what allows the real crooks to get through. If you believe they're all crooks, why bother taking the time to gather the facts and discern truth from lies. Why bother with anything except work, tv and a six pack.

Durbin is corrupt?

:crazy:

[PhD]

18. I left the state around the time Durbin was elected

and have no opinion of him. But Ryan and Blagojevich have certainly done enough to taint the entire state.

[sandnsea]

19. Two people equal the entire state

I don't blame the entirety of the human population because 2-3% are criminals. You may think a statement like 'they're all crooks' is witty and appeals to everybody - but it's really just toxic and feeds the disillusionment which benefits those you're trying to get out of power in the first place.

[PhD]

20. Well I didn't even mention the Daley family....

but it's irrelevant. I won't be voting for Obama not because of allegations of corruption but because his positions and policies are not the best match for mine among the candidates.

Vote Biden.

[BenDavid]

9. Not going to matter. Why, you ask?

Once the msm gets enough emails and calls concerning one of Romney's folks then there will be no more Hsu.We all know that Norman Hsu donated to Democratic candidates and, believe me, he will be front and center in the media.Just tonight he was on A. Cooper, Raw Politics,
From the site : DownWithTyranny!

MITT ROMNEY FINANCE BIGWIG CHARGED WITH CHILD ABUSE

"Norman Hsu donated to Democratic candidates and, believe me, he will be front and center in the media forever. I bet you never heard of Robert Lichfield though, right? He wasn't just a random donor to Republicans. He was a member of the Mitt Romney campaign, charged with bringing in money to the biggest spending campaign. But, besides sucking up cash for Full of Mitt, Lichfield was also involved with child abuse. He quietly slinked away from the campaign but... not much has been heard about this in all the yelling and screaming over Hsu even though he's been bringing in far more money for Flip Flop than Hsu has brought in for Democrats.

Lichfield is named in a federal lawsuit charging that students of the "behavior modification" schools with ties to WWASPS were subjected to "physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse."

...The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Utah, alleges brazen acts of child abuse, including that students of the various programs had been forced to eat their own vomit, clean toilets with a toothbrush and brush their teeth afterward, were chained or locked in dog cages, kicked, beaten, thrown and slammed to the ground and forced into sexual acts.

Lichfield and his wife have donated thousands of dollars to Romney and other right-wing candidates for various offices, as well as to right-wing groups. In fact they seem to have donated well over the legal limit for wingnuts like Utah Senators Robert Bennett and Orrin Hatch, and North Carolina Senator Richard Burr. I know Democrats who were recipients of Hsu's money have donated it to charity. Will Hatch, Bennett, the GOP and Full of Mitt return the hundreds of thousands of dollars given to them directly by Lichfield? Not likely."


We all need to write, call any of the MSM that reports on Hsu and shows that picture over and over, and report the actions of any Republican. You do not even have to support HRC, but she is one of our candidates and an attack on one of us is an attack on us all....."Down With Tyranny"

I do thank you
Ben David

[fujiyama]

10. It's funny how they talk about "Democratic fund raising scandals"

and looking back at the last few years of the pedophile protecting party (or the public restroom gay sex soliciting party), they seem so incredibly tame in comparison.

Either way, this will likely blow over. But Clinton should have been smarter, as should all Democratic candidates. Dems have to remember that any mistake they make is much more likely to be blown out of proportion.

Well, the funny thing is, Dems have to worry more about dirty money...because they're raising considerably more this time.