WaPo Reports Another Clinton Campaign Finance Fiasco Media Will Ignore

September 3rd, 2007 12:55 PM

On Monday, the Washington Post broke the news of another major Hillary Clinton campaign finance fiasco that seems destined to be ignored or downplayed by media in much the same way previous instances of such behavior by the former First Lady avoided press scrutiny.

After all, the media for seven years largely buried Hillary's involvement with convicted felon Peter F. Paul during her 2000 senatorial campaign, and have clearly downplayed last week's revelations concerning fugitive Norman Hsu's ties to the junior senator from New York.

Now, as reported by the Post, there's a third scandal involving the front-runner for the Democrat presidential nomination which, given past precedent, might also not receive the kind of attention the press would give the matter if Hillary had an "R" next to her name (emphasis added throughout):

Sant S. Chatwal, an Indian American businessman, has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaigns, even as he battled governments on two continents to escape bankruptcy and millions of dollars in tax liens.

The founder of the Bombay Palace restaurant chain, Chatwal is one of a growing number of fundraisers in the 2008 presidential campaign whose backgrounds have prompted questions about how much screening the candidates devote to their "bundlers" while they press to raise record amounts.

Hadn't heard anything about this? Well, how could you, for Google news and LexisNexis searches produced virtually nothing about this man's connections to the Clinton campaign.

Regardless, somehow this is the third known individual in seven years to be able to contribute to Mrs. Clinton despite serious legal troubles:

Yet none of the legal and financial woes -- occasionally touched on in American or Indian newspapers or highlighted by political opponents -- raised red flags inside Hillary Clinton's fundraising operation. Chatwal recently said he plans to help raise $5 million from Indian Americans for Clinton's presidential bid.

Asked whether anything in Chatwal's background caused concerns about his activities on behalf of the campaign, Clinton spokesman Phil Singer answered, "No." He declined last week to be more specific, saying only that major fundraisers are routinely vetted "through publicly available records."

As media have been pounding the table about a GOP culture of corruption for several years, can you imagine such revelations concerning a Republican candidate for president not generating a massive media firestorm 24 hours a day, seven days a week until said candidate was likely forced to leave the race?

Do you think Katie, Charlie, and Brian will be reporting this new revelation about the Clinton campaign this evening?

It seems a metaphysical certitude that the answer to both questions is a loud, resounding "No."

What a disgrace.

*****Update: Gateway Pundit has more about new revelations surrounding Hillary benefactor Norman Hsu that most media will surely ignore.

Michelle Malkin reports how Hillary's husband was shocked, shocked I tell you, to hear about Norman Hsu's troubles with the law.

This raises an important question: If Bill and Hillary really are two of the smartest people to ever walk the face of the planet as virtually all media members avow, how do they keep getting duped by people with legal problems?

*****Update II: Michelle has more.