I've been hearing quite a bit over the last couple of days about a man named Norman Hsu. Who? For the last 15 years, California authorities have been trying to figure out what happened to Hsu, who pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison, and then just disappeared. Turns out the guy has been hanging around quite publicly, at least for the last three years: Democratic fundraiser is a fugitive in plain sight. Since 2004, Norman Hsu has been a high roller at Democratic fundraisers, carving out some political and financial influence, funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to the likes of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has apparently developed a knack for bundling large contributions from "obscure citizens who live modest lives": Big Dem fundraiser wanted on swindling charges
Obscure citizens meaning families like the Paws. This Wall Street Journal story started a lot of the chatter, reporting that the Paws' "unlikely" middle class address is listed for many contributions to the Clinton campaign: Big Source of Clinton's Cash Is an Unlikely Address. And here's the follow-up: Leading Clinton Donor Stays Below the Radar. This isn't the first we've seen a whole lotta fuss over questionable Clinton donors, lest we forget the Asian donor scandals of the 1990s. Oh yeaaaaahhh, wait, those guys were Asians too. This Daily Kos entry takes issue with the scrutiny: Chinese-Americans Give Money To Clinton. The Horror. The Horror.
Look, I won't pretend that I know too much about the intricacies of campaign donations, political influence and fundraiser dinners and all that. I don't know what kind of shady business Norman Hsu has been involved with, and I don't know whether this fuss over the Paws is legit. Forget all that. It seems to that there's an awful lot of attention here simply because we have donors here of Chinese descent. One wonders if there would be so much scrutiny and fanfare if the people involved here didn't have names like Hsu or Paw. You know what I'm saying? Anyway, Clinton is donating the funds she has received from Hsu to charity: Clinton to Give Away Funds From Donor With Outstanding Warrant. And Hsu says that he'll "refrain from all fundraising activities" until his arrest warrant is resolved: Fugitive donor bows out of fundraising
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