Oh-eight (D): More on Hsu
Posted: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 9:13 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Democrats
CLINTON: The New York Times reports that the Clinton campaign is returning the $850,000 Norman Hsu raised, “viewing the money as tainted. Yet the campaign is also risking another public relations mess by saying that it would take back the money if it clearly came from the donor’s bank account, not from Mr. Hsu or another source. The risk is that Mrs. Clinton will appear to want more cash no matter whether it was once colored by a disgraced donor.”
“The campaign will try to get most of the donors to give the money back right after the refunds, said a senior Democratic strategist who advises Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. ‘That’s the plan,’ the strategist said.”
The New York Daily News reveals that “FBI agents are collecting e-mail evidence in the widening [Hsu] scandal.”
The Washington Post delves into the Clinton campaign's claims that its background check on Norman Hsu didn't turn up any problems. "Though a commonly used public record search shows that Hsu had multiple business lawsuits filed against him dating to 1985, filed for bankruptcy in 1990, and was a defendant in two 1991 California court matters listed as possible criminal cases, the campaign said its computer checks used insufficient search terms that did not include the two middle names Hsu used in the California case. ‘In all of these searches, the campaign used the name Norman Hsu, which, like the search results of other committees and campaigns, did not turn up disqualifying information,’ Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson explained.”
More: “Clinton campaign chairman Terence R. McAuliffe -- famous for his careful, methodical courting of big donors and fundraisers -- said in an interview yesterday that he does not know where Hsu came from. ‘I don't know how he became involved in the Clinton campaign,’ McAuliffe said. ‘I've never asked the man for a check.’” Interestingly, the article notes that Bill Clinton's foundation returned Hsu's money before the Clinton campaign did.
Another potential problem for the Clinton campaign? The Politico writes that Rep. Henry Waxman, who is investigating the political influence on some of the Bush White House decisions, is allowing his GOP committee members' curiosity about how much the Clinton White House played politics by asking to examine a slew of Clinton-era materials. "In a letter this week, Waxman suggested Republicans satisfy their curiosity by reexamining what he estimates are more than 2 million pages of documents about the Clinton White House and the Democratic National Committee that House investigators amassed in the 1990s.
“The extraordinary search was prompted by revelations that Bush aides have conducted political briefings for GOP appointees at federal agencies before big elections. Democrats have complained that the sessions could violate the Hatch Act, which is designed to insulate federal employees from political pressure.”
OBAMA: Per NBC’s Lauren Appelbaum, the Obama campaign sent two text messages to supporters yesterday. One of them, received at 3:30 pm ET, said: “Please REPLY to this message with your five-digit ZIP code to receive local Obama campaign news and periodic updates. Thanks for your help. Scott at Obama HQ.” The next, at 8:40 pm ET, said: “Barack is giving a major Iraq policy speech tomorrow. He will also be live on the Today Show tomorrow morning at 7:00am. Visit BarackObama.com for more info.”
Obama's never been a favorite of the Jewish political community and now he may give those folks more reason to shy away from him with the high profile he's giving Zbigniew Brzezinksi.
