Fugitive Democratic Party donor Norman Hsu was arrested today in Colorado, according to the Associated Press. However, while discussing the fact that many of the politicians to whom Hsu gave money are returning it or giving it to charity, the AP seems strangely reluctant to discuss the mysterious sources of Hsu's contributions. The story talks about several Democrats who are returning Hsu's gifts, and states,
The growing flap over Hsu's contributions prompted Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd to release a statement Thursday vowing "to refuse to accept or possess campaign contributions raised, solicited, or delivered by fugitives from justice."
"Growing flap". That's nice. But it would be even nicer if one of the so-called professional media organizations would devote some time to digging into the actual source of Hsu's large contributions. As of this writing, not one has managed to find an actual business that could be said to have supported Hsu- certainly not to the extent of being the grand-scale fundraiser he was, and none of the supposed mainstream media organizations has spent any invetigative resources whatsoever trying to discover exactly where Hsu- a failed businessman with apparently no real business- got the money to live on, let alone give so much to Democratic politicians. Although few of the mainstream media seem interested, the Wall Street Journal is a prominent exception, and has actually done some investigating. The Journal wrote,
In recent years, he moved to New York, and told acquaintances he was working in the fashion industry. While he did run apparel companies at various times, some of the firms listed as his employer on campaign-contribution records are hard to track. Mr. Hsu has maintained a very low profile within New York's apparel industry. Representatives of one of the country's main import groups, the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel, said they had never heard of Mr. Hsu. Firms that track shipments to significant U.S. importers also found no record that companies listed by Mr. Hsu had imported goods into the U.S. over the past year. And now, many acquaintances in New York say they aren't sure what he did for a living.
Good for the Journal. But it would be nice if the rest of the media would take a harder look at this as well, instead of continuing to post front-page stories on Larry Craig. Considering the amount of resources that have been deployed to follow the Abramoff story, the Valerie Plame non-scandal and the equally non-scandal of the fired US attorneys, it would seem possible that the media would be able to devote some resources to dig into a story that may actually lead to evidence of foreign meddling in the US political system- which is a genuine scandal. Don't forget that Charlie Trie, Bill Clinton's Asian financier, fled the country to avoid answering questions. We still don't know the real source of that money. For all we know, it could have come from the Chinese government or the Chinese military- neither of whom are allowed to contribute to U.S. candidates. Norman Hsu is a major question mark. If the media are as professional as they like to claim, they need to follow this one up- no matter how embarrassing it might be to the Democrats. Oh, wait. Embarrassing to Democrats? I won't hold my breath. Hat tip to Sweetness and Light for the Wall Street Journal story. Cross-posted on StoneHeads.
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Was Hsu running from
September 7, 2007 - 12:30 ET by RJthe U.S. Government,
the Chinese Government,
....or the Clintons?
THAT'S the question I'd like to ask him.
Seriously, the MSM's lack of interest in this scandal that goes back years is one of the most blatant examples of why this site exists.
My first guess would be the
September 7, 2007 - 12:33 ET by Clear thinkerMy first guess would be the Clintons.
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}}---> Hsu sick
September 7, 2007 - 13:27 ET by Cool ArrowSays on Fox Hsu was arrested when he got violently sick on an AMTRAK train.
Maybe Hillary has some of that polonium-210 left over from her comerades.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
That happened to me once on
September 8, 2007 - 05:06 ET by BritcomThat happened to me once on an Amtrak train. It was the food in the dining car.
A Crime is a Flap
September 7, 2007 - 12:37 ET by mattmA crime is just a flap - when it's a Democrat. But a flap is a crime when it's a Republican.
But, hey - they covered it, so where's the bias? </if you can't tell that's sarcasm, you must be a DemonicRAT>
Can someone explain to me
September 7, 2007 - 12:48 ET by Roger the ShrubberCan someone explain to me how Hsu was able to attend, organize, and pull off fundraiser after fundraiser, year after year, if he was a fugitive all these years?
This story should be screamed from the top of every building in this great land. This is pathetic.
Two words
September 7, 2007 - 13:27 ET by mattmThe Clintons
HSU a criminal without a country
September 7, 2007 - 12:48 ET by Lame CherryI honestly misjudged this one as I though Hsu was shipped back to Chicom land with help by Hillary's people and the PLA where he would await to be part of a "suicide story" to solve the problem he is.
For Hsu to not be able to flee America means Hsu is terrified the PLA will murder him to cover up the money laundering and the DNC wants no part of this guy either. All of that means Hsu is a criminal without a country in no one is going to help him.......that means a clever Justice Department prosecutor could make this chinaman sing loudly fast.
Hsu has the money tip of the Chicom iceberg and it will have titanic implications for the DNC if the GOP just pushes this as this will explode sometime round next summer with indictments on the liberal crew.
National Review and the cowboys in intel just need to offer up a few more leads and this thing will now crack as Hsu will sing to save himself.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
Richard. You aptly noted,
September 7, 2007 - 12:53 ET by Gary HallRichard. You aptly noted, "Don't forget that Charlie Trie, Bill Clinton's Asian financier, fled the country to avoid answering questions."
I might add, "Don't forget James Riady, Bill Clinton's old associate from Arkansas who followed him to Washington along with much Indonesian influence (now, what about Clinton's vacation in Jakarta, while President?), and became a regular fixture in the Clinton White House, ending up:
Bias in the media? It's so bad, that during the course of 24/7 coverage in the Abramoff scandal, I queried a LA Times editor in their Washington office, as to how he thought this compared to past crimes such as the James Riady episode.
He replied, "Who?"
Perhaps it's not intentional bias; rather it's complete ignorance - which was created because of a lack of interest [bias] in the crimes of the other side. Bias creates more bias. Bias creates ignorance. Ignorance creates more bias.
....because biased media more focused on GOP problems.
September 7, 2007 - 13:00 ET by winston smithI've heard some speculation on talk-radio that the Craig incident may have been in the bag for some time waiting to be "sprung" at just the right moment ---- like now as more potentially damaging Democrat party corruption is coming to light. Coverage of the Craig incident has far outpaced the more serious and continual Democrat corruption story tenfold. There may be more of these controversies coming to light as the '08 election nears. Yes, it's just speculation but it's just too intriguing to ignore.
I've also noticed that the media has been rather silent on a major corruption scandal here in New Jersey where most if not all, of the officials implicated are Democrats. WABC radio was very careful about not mentioning the party of those arrested in their news story this morning (big surprise, huh?). You know what the news would be like this morning if those arrested were all Republicans, right?
Hold your fire - Hold your fire
September 7, 2007 - 13:03 ET by Captain RepusThis story needs to be held in limbo for now - AFTER Hillary's coronation in Feb, it is time start a 9 month snowball on this issue. It is time to finally expose the corrupt Clintons to the world, and this is the perfect vehicle for this. This will give the Justice Dept. several months to gather up all the facts.
Can we get a little more
September 7, 2007 - 13:21 ET by BuffNBoneCan we get a little more detail about the "charities" who receive these illegal donations?
For elections that have been "decided", shouldn't the losing candidate be the one to determine where the money should go?
"Fighters are fun but bombers make policy"
}}---> Hsu Money
September 7, 2007 - 13:24 ET by Cool ArrowDoesn't seem anybody's even interested in if the Dems donate their laundered money.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Hmmmm....
September 7, 2007 - 13:54 ET by c5thenAll of the Dem contributors who have been "fishy" have been asian with either known ties, or hidden ties, to China. Coincidence?
Just like the Buddist Nun's that donated HUGE sums of money to the democratic party as a result of Al Gore's party they threw. No one media outlet brought up that the buddist nuns all take a vow of poverty. Where did THEY get the $$$$$ from?
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic
Replaced
September 7, 2007 - 15:29 ET by JDWRWN: Sen Clinton's sleazy new fundraiser
JDW
CFR: Chung, Riady, Hsia, Trie, Huang, Hsu, Paw... Who's looking?
More details on Hsu and the Dems
September 8, 2007 - 11:09 ET by BritcomI found more details about Hsu's train adventure and also more big names of Dems caught with his money.
It is reported here and here that "Hsu boarded the train in Emeryville [near Oakland/San Francisco Bay] and was scheduled to get off the train in Denver" but he fell violently ill near Grand Junction - 250 miles west of Denver.
Ok... so what is in Denver that was so important? The Airport? I had a look at the Amtrak map and the Zephyr passes through Sacramento, and Salt Lake City. If he was going to board a flight to Hong Kong why not do so there? I think I answered my own question. Denver is a Democratically controlled stronghold.
I also did some digging on what flights to China he may have been trying to get on in Denver. Virtually all of them connect back through San Fran or LAX which would allow the FBI to capture him, except for United Flt. 1121 which connects through Vancouver BC, which would not be a risk of arrest for him, from there the flight continues on China Eastern Airways Flt. 582 to Shanghai. (He was only a few hours away from escape.)
Names: Obama, Spitzer (Gov-NY), Cuomo (AG-NY) Each of the above reportedly took money from Hsu.
Other new details:
"He had pleaded no contest to felony grand theft involving a scheme to resell latex gloves."
"In recent years, Hsu has raised more than $500,000 for various Democratic candidates and committees"
"He's a dirty liar. They never should have let him out of jail. I
knew he would run," said a Fremont, Calif., man who lost $240,000
investing with Hsu in 1989 and 1990. "He really hurt me," said the
retired man, who asked not to be identified. The fact that Hsu
hoodwinked authorities and so many savvy politicians didn't surprise
his California fraud victims.
"He thinks everyone is stupid except him," said Alice Huynh of El
Cerrito, who lost $47,500 investing in Hsu's bogus ventures. "I was so
disappointed they let him run away again," Huynh said. "I guess he
really is a smart man."