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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The Norman Hsu Post - Updated Daily

The amount of money Norman Hsu raised for the Democrats continues to be a mystery. Just like the source of all this political cash and the reasons behind his purchase of access to the top Democrats in the country.

I will try to update the information as it comes in.

Originally, reports put Hsu’s contributions to all campaigns at something like $600,000. Originally Hillary’s campaign decided to give about $23,000 to charity, this being the amount they claim that Hsu gave directly. They have now upped the ante to $850,000.


Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign said Monday it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for allegedly violating election laws.
Clinton, D-N.Y., previously had planned only to give to charity $23,000 she received from Hsu for her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac.

The FBI is investigating whether Hsu paid so-called straw donors to send campaign contributions to Clinton and other candidates, a law enforcement official said Monday.

All of a sudden the Clinton camp blows past the $600,000 discussed by the media. And then of course there are the contributions to the dozens of other prominent Democrats.

Before this is over the “hundreds of thousands” figure that is frequently quoted will have grown to millions.

From the WSJ:

A Wall Street Journal analysis of campaign finance reform records has linked Mr. Hsu with at least $1.8 million in donations to Democrats since 2004.

I confidently predict that number will go much higher.

Which bring us back to the question, where did Hsu get the money and why did he give it to the Democrats? Why is it important to this Chinese swindler to have Hillary in the White House and Democrats running the country?

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal reports that a Joel Rosenman, a figure from the 1960's Woodstock nation gave Hsu $40 million which is now missing.


Where did Norman Hsu get his money?

That has been one of the big questions hanging over the prominent Democratic fund-raiser, as reports have surfaced about hundreds of thousands of dollars he made in political donations, plus lavish parties, fancy apartments and a $2 million bond he posted to get out of jail earlier this month.

New documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal may help point to an answer: A company controlled by Mr. Hsu recently received $40 million from a Madison Avenue investment fund run by Joel Rosenman, who was one of the creators of the Woodstock rock festival in 1969. That money, Mr. Rosenman told investors this week, is missing.


Mr. Hsu told Mr. Rosenman the money would be used to manufacture apparel in China for Gucci, Prada and other private labels, yielding a 40% profit on each deal, according to a business plan obtained by the Journal. Now the investment fund, Source Financing Investors, says Mr. Hsu's company owes it the $40 million, which represents 37 separate deals with Mr. Hsu's company. When Source Financing recently attempted to cash checks from the company, Components Ltd., the investors say they were told the account held insufficient funds.


UPDATE: More from Fox News:
The mystery of where a dirty Democratic fundraiser got the money to lead a lavish lifestyle, fund political campaigns and post a $2 million bond to get out of jail appears to have a Woodstock connection, according to a report published in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper reports that a company run by Norman Hsu, who donated nearly $2 million to Democratic candidates since 2004 — including presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton — recently received $40 million from a Madison Avenue investment fund run by Joel Rosenman, one of the creators of the fabled Woodstock rock festival in 1969.

Now, that $40 million is missing, Rosenman reportedly told investors this week.


UPDATE: Hsu suicide note via the Wall Street Journal
Before Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu skipped a court hearing and temporarily vanished last week, he typed out a suicide note and sent copies to several acquaintances and charitable organizations, according to people who received it.
Ever the thoughtful gentleman he
apologized for putting anybody "through inconvenience or trouble," the recipient said.
This is the sort of thing that ingratiated him to so many people whom he defrauded out of millions.

It would have been so convenient for so many people if he had been able to carry out his "suicide." Apparently, he failed. But you can be sure that he'll try again; it would help the Democrats cause. And if we know one thing very well by now, he was a Liberal Democrat: big-time.

UPDATE: Hsu claims his troubles cause by Obama. From the LA Times:
Hsu's undoing began two weeks ago with articles raising questions about his fundraising activities in the Wall Street Journal and about a criminal case in his past in The Times. In his letter, said a person familiar with its contents who asked to remain anonymous, Hsu contended that those articles were planted "by a politician who pledged 'hope and change' " -- an apparent reference to Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton's main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.


UPDATE: University of Arkansas Returns Hsu's Cash. Will the New School?

UPDATE: From Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom
1. Hsu told Source Financial the money was to manufacture clothes for Gucci & Prada in China. Neither company manufactures any items in China, ever.
2. Source Financial never noticed that Hsu’s businesses didn’t exist before loaning him money. They also failed to check his background, or look for a factory in China connected to Hsu.
3. Source Financial was accepting checks post dated by 135 days as payment on their huge loans to Hsu.
4. Source Financial employees are also big Hillary donors.
5. Hillary set aside 1 million dollars of taxpayer money for a “Woodstock” museum. The head of Source Financial was a major Woodstock promoter and also a long time Clinton friend.
6. It took 2 weeks for the head of Source Financial to realize there might be some kind of connection between his company, Clinton, and Hsu.
7. One of the recipients of Hsu’s suicide note googled the term “Hsu Suicide” BEFORE anyone knew where he was or what he was doing - according to Michelle Malkin.

UPDATE: From the Washington Post: Hsu Cast Wide Net For Clinton Donors
To raise $850,000 for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign in just eight months, Norman Hsu tapped an eclectic group of donors that included wealthy investors in his apparel ventures, hotel shopkeepers, a 96-year-old in a Florida retirement home and an auto-body worker who mistakenly thought he would get a tax break for his political generosity.
[...]
His intensive fundraising brought him close to their campaigns, which showered him with dinner invitations and opportunities to get his picture snapped with the politicians -- contacts that some businessmen said lent credibility to Hsu's efforts to sell investors on his clothing ventures.

But his pursuit of political and business funds at the same time -- from many of the same people -- leaves unclear which was the end and which was the means. Was Hsu hoping to leverage his political affiliations to boost the credibility of his business? Or did he intend the more than $2 million he bundled in political donations in four years to curry favor for some as-yet-undetermined goal?


So, the Wash. Post now says the contribution numbers now top $2 million. The number will rise.

UPDATE: From Captain's Quarters:
The Washington Post asks the question at the base of the Hsustock scandal, but comes up with few answers. What did Norman Hsu hope to gain by flooding the zone with millions in contributions to Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton? Where did he get the money at the beginning, before apparently fleecing Woodstock founder Joel Rosenman of $40 million?

Hsu began his contributions to Hillary and the Democrats way before getting $40 million from the Woodstock Nation. The questions keep coming and the answers don't.

1 comment:

Eleanor said...

Didn't some of this happen about the same time Clinton allowed the Chinese to "steal" our missile designs? Or did he just sell the designs to the Chinese outright? There is so MUCH to remember in this vein that I get it all smooshed together.