Democrats love to remember the Bill Clinton era. They love pointing out how great the economy was, how wonderful the stock market did, how poverty dropped, how everyone was happy and good-looking. Forget the scandals. Forget Whitewater and Monica and fund-raising irregularities. Just look at those dot.coms go!
Well, it looks like the Clinton era could be returning. At least, the Clinton fundraising scandals are returning.
For the last 15 years, California authorities have been trying to figure out what happened to a businessman named Norman Hsu, who pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison and then seemed to vanish.
"He is a fugitive," Ronald Smetana, who handled the case for the state attorney general, said in an interview. "Do you know where he is?"
Hsu, it seems, has been hiding in plain sight, at least for the last three years.
Since 2004, one Norman Hsu has been carving out a prominent place of honor among Democratic fundraisers. He has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into party coffers, much of it earmarked for presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
In addition to making his own contributions, Hsu has honed the practice of assembling packets of checks from contributors who bear little resemblance to the usual Democratic deep pockets: A self-described apparel executive with a variety of business interests, Hsu has focused on delivering hefty contributions from citizens who live modest lives and are neophytes in the world of campaign giving...
As a Democratic rainmaker, Hsu -- who graduated from UC Berkeley and the Wharton School of Business -- is credited with donating nearly $500,000 to national and local party candidates and their political committees in the last three years. He earned a place in the Clinton campaign's "HillRaiser" group by pledging to raise more than $100,000 for her presidential bid.
Records show that Hsu helped raise an additional $500,000 from other sources for Clinton and other Democrats.
According to his lawyer, Hsu "doesn't remember" pleading to a criminal charge and being sentenced to jail. How does a person "not remember" pleading guilty and being sentenced to prison? I suppose it's the same way Hillary Clinton didn't remember what she worked on at the Rose Law Firm or how Bill Clinton didn't remember Paula Jones.
Beyond that brush with the justice system, Hsu is being examined for his involvement with "bundling" campaign contributions for Democrat candidates.
Records show that Hsu has emerged as one of the Democrats' most successful "bundlers," rounding up groups of contributors and packaging their checks together before delivering the funds to campaign officials. Individuals can give a total of $4,600 to a single candidate during an election cycle, $2,300 for the primaries and $2,300 for the general election.
One example of the kind of first-time donors Hsu has worked with is the Paw family of Daly City, Calif., which is headed by William Paw, a mail carrier, and his wife, Alice, who is listed as a homemaker.
The Paws -- seven adults, most of whom live together in a small house near San Francisco International Airport -- apparently had never donated to national candidates until 2004. Over a three-year period, they gave $213,000, including $55,000 to Clinton and $14,000 to candidates for state-level offices in New York.
I heard about this story from the Laura Ingraham Show, where they compared the collective yawn from the MSM over this story to the furor over Jack Abramoff. One does have to wonder why Abramoff was a scandal that wouldn't die, while Marc Rich is a story Democrats scoff over.
Expect the nutroots to try to change the subject. Oh, shady campaign fundraising might not be nice...but Larry Craig solicited sex from an undercover cop in an airport restroom! Hillary's just continuing the snake oil sales from her husband's presidency where everything was for sale...but President Bush was "criminally negligent" for not preventing 9/11, even though Bill Clinton had eight years and didn't prevent attacks! And you can count on Media Matters to complain about a flea while completely ignoring the 800-pound gorilla in the room.
Ah, yes. Dismissing malfeasance. Redirecting attention. Stonewalling. Smells like Democrats.
UPDATE: Hillary Clinton has decided to give Hsu's money to charity.
UPDATE x2: Patterico's Pontifications guest blogger WLS wonders if Hillary will get a pass like her husband. The post goes into the eyebrow-raising irregularities of the Paw family campaign contributions ridiculed in the Media Matters propaganda.
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