Hsu Top Democrat Fund Raiser: Washington Post Spins For the Democrats

One Page A3 of the Washington Post writers Matthew Mosk and John Solomon tell a few tales that may well become the accepted narrative among the MSM despite the fact that they have already been debunked.

Last week, before his world came crashing down, Norman Hsu helped organize a breakfast meeting in San Francisco with prospective donors. The featured attraction was Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

The meeting was hardly unusual for Hsu, a New York apparel manufacturer for much of his career whose success at raising money had propelled him into the upper echelon of Democratic politics.

The legend that Hsu was an apparel manufacturer came about because of his claim that he founded a number of clothing companies. Few of those claims can be substantiated, and some are apparent fabrications.

On Wednesday, he failed to appear at a court hearing related to the warrant, forfeiting $2 million in bail. Hsu's attorney James Brosnahan told a San Mateo County judge he did not know where Hsu had gone. The office of California's attorney general said it had not expected Hsu to flee and had not collected his passport.

The fact that Hsu failed to appear for jail 15 years ago apparently did not lead the California Attorney General that HJsu may not show up this time? I question either the writers of this story or utter stupidity on the part of the AG.

Another attorney for Hsu, E. Lawrence Barcella Jr., said yesterday the suggestion that Hsu raised money improperly -- including more than $290,000 from one family whose members live in a small bungalow and hold middle-class jobs -- is off base. "I have looked at financial records that clearly show they have the wherewithal to make those contributions," he said.

Really? The family in question is headed by a letter carrier who makes $48,000 per year. I understand devotion to a cause, but giving $290,000 to politicians on a $48,000 salary does not pass the test of logic. The statement by attorney Barcella does not pass the laugh test.

Facts about Hsu are hard to come by. Twenty-year-old clippings from apparel industry publications say he was born and raised in Hong Kong and arrived in the United States in 1969 to attend the University of California at Berkeley. The computer science major went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for an MBA. In 1982, with a group of Hong Kong-based partners, he formed Lavano Sportswear.

The business went bankrupt. Describing that time to a Bay Area newspaper, Hsu said he was young and "made a lot of stupid mistakes." But Hsu moved on to form a series of new clothing ventures before going back to Hong Kong, from 1992 to 1996, for unknown reasons. Returning to the United States, Hsu invested in several new wholesale apparel and import ventures that collectively generate about $2 million a year, according to Dun & Bradstreet estimates.

“...going back to Hong Kong, from 1992 to 1996, for unknown reasons?” Unknown reasons? Wasn’t this the time that Hsu skipped out to avoid jail? Hmmmm. Yes. 1995 was 15 years ago, the length of time that Hsu is reported to have been on the lam. Apparently our two intrepid reporter-sleuths for the Wash Post can’t connect these dots.

The Clinton campaign stood by Hsu until the Los Angeles Times reported his outstanding arrest warrant. At that point, the campaign reversed course, announcing it would donate to charity the $23,000 in direct contributions Hsu made to Clinton's presidential campaign, her Senate reelection bid and her political action committee. The campaign does not plan to return any money Hsu raised from other donors.

Hillary Clinton apparently feels free to keep the $290,000 raised by the California letter carrier whose salary totals $48,000.

But there is a much larger question: where did Norman Hsu get the money that he contributed? The ever gullible reporters for the Post claim that Hsu’s “apparel” businesses collectively had revenues of $2 million. Revenues are not profits. In fact the businesses that Hsu was involved in were either outright fraud like the rubber glove scam he ran which landed him his jail sentence, or went bankrupt. Profitable businesses don’t go bankrupt. Honest businesses don’t generate enough profit on $2 million in revenue to enable the owner to give $1.2 million in campaign contributions while living the life of a wealthy tycoon – which Hsu apparently did.

What is the source of Hsu’s money? And let’s examine the list of his contributions. All are Democrats and the list is very, very long. It looks as if someone was bankrolling Hsu and was in the process of buying the Democrats in the US, wholesale.

UPDATE: From SFGate.com:

Hsu's disappearing act seemed to be a reprise of a move he pulled 15 years ago, when he failed to show up for sentencing in the same grand theft case. Hsu was facing up to three years in state prison, a $10,000 fine and restitution payments after pleading no contest to a single count of grand theft in what prosecutors described as a $1 million fraud scheme.

But while free on bail after his plea, Hsu dropped from sight for 15 years, apparently spending time in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan, only to emerge in recent years as a seemingly wealthy New York resident who donated generously to Democratic political campaigns, regularly attended fundraisers and was photographed with party leaders.

A week ago, Hsu, 56, surrendered to San Mateo County sheriff's deputies in Redwood City after press accounts linked him to the earlier grand theft case. He spent a few hours in county jail before posting $2 million bail and agreeing to surrender his passport.

The state attorney general's office, which is prosecuting the case, initially sought bail of $1 million, but San Mateo Superior Court Judge James Ellis doubled that to $2 million - the amount specified in the arrest warrant.

After Hsu posted bail, his attorney, Jim Brosnahan, sent a legal assistant to Hsu's New York condominium Monday to retrieve the passport but was unable to find it after a 90-minute search.

WHERE IS ALL THIS MONEY COMING FROM? THE $2 MILLION FOR BAIL, WHICH HE SKIPPED AND THEREFORE FORFEITED?

Hsu is throwing around greenback like it's monopoly money and the press keeps focusing on his non-existant "apparel" businesses as if they could be the source of his riches. They are not. Like flushing a Koran down a toilet, it is a physical impossiblity. Like the snipers and the raped babies in New Orleans that the press reported, they did not exist. Where is Norman Hsu getting the money? Who is his backer? And why do they want to own the Democrats?