Hillary Taking Laundered Money From a Fugitive

Hey folks,

This story is not going away. I knew that it wouldn’t. But like I said, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is stepping down. I truly believe that he will leave all together. This is the difference between the LWL and those with morals. According to the AP -GOP senators say Craig should resign By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig's political support eroded by the hour on Wednesday as fellow Republicans in Congress called for him to resign and party leaders pushed him unceremoniously from senior committee posts.

The White House expressed disappointment, too — and nary a word of support for the 62-year-old lawmaker, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to a charge stemming from an undercover police operation in an airport men's room.

Craig represents the Republican Party, said Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the first in a steadily lengthening list of GOP members of Congress to urge a resignation.

That’s right, URGED him to resign. Others?

Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Norm Coleman of Minnesota joined Hoekstra in urging Craig to step down, as did Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida — and others who joined them as the day wore on.

McCain spoke out in an interview with CNN. My opinion is that when you plead guilty to a crime, you shouldn't serve. That's not a moral stand. That's not a holier-than-thou. It's just a factual situation.

Coleman said in a written statement, Senator Craig pled guilty to a crime involving conduct unbecoming a senator.

For a second consecutive day, GOP Senate leaders stepped in, issuing a statement that said Craig had agreed to comply with leadership's request to temporarily give up his posts on important committees. He has been the top Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee as well as on subcommittees for two other panels.

This is not a decision we take lightly, but we believe this is in the best interest of the Senate until this situation is resolved by the ethics committee, said the statement, issued in the name of Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the party leader, and others.

What about the President?

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said, We are disappointed in the matter, without specifying exactly what was causing the discomfort.

He said he hoped the ethics committee would do its work swiftly, as that would be in the best interests of the Senate and the people of Idaho.

So unlike the Democrats, when a Republican does something wrong, they get them out. The LWL? They ignore, defend, and surround theirs with support. No matter what.

Then you have this discriminatory statement.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said his party stood to gain. All of these people who (are) holier than thou are now under investigations. ... I think the Republican Party will find itself in a great peril next year, he said.

THESE people? Holier than thou? These are hateful and discriminatory statements. Will anything be said about them? Nope. But they are.

Then you have the joke that is CREW. Soros funded and LWL controlled hit group, NOW calling for others. Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the following in a statement yesterday.

"Senator Ted Stevens maintains his position on the Appropriations Committee despite being the subject of a major criminal investigation, including an FBI raid on his Alaska home and Senator David Vitter maintains his assignments despite admitting to the crime of soliciting a prostitute.

A disorderly conduct plea requires a member to give up his committee assignment, but a full-fledged bribery investigation does not. Apparently, in the view of the Republican conference there is almost nothing more serious than a member attempting to engage in gay sex. For consistency's sake, Senators Stevens and Vitter should both be forced to give up their committee assignments as well."

What about Jefferson? You know, the $90, 000 grand in the freezer? What about Murtha caught on tape talking about taking bribes? What about Hillary accepting money from a Convicted Felon and a fugitive from justice? Are you calling for them to resign?

What am I talking about? This, from the LA Times -Democratic fundraiser is a fugitive in plain sight By Chuck Neubauer and Robin Fields, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
August 29, 2007

California authorities have sought businessman Norman Hsu for 15 years. Since 2004, he has carved out a place of honor raising cash for such candidates as Hillary Rodham Clinton.

WASHINGTON -- 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.

On Tuesday, E. Lawrence Barcella Jr. -- a Washington lawyer who represents the Democratic fundraiser -- confirmed that Hsu was the same man who was involved in the California case. Barcella said his client did not remember pleading to a criminal charge and facing the prospect of jail time. Hsu remembers the episode as part of a settlement with creditors when he also went through bankruptcy, Barcella said.

This get’s better.

The bulk of the campaign dollars raised by major parties comes from the same sources: business groups, labor unions and other well-heeled interests with a long-term need to win friends in the political arena.

But the appetite for cash has grown so great that politicians are constantly pressured to find new sources of contributions. Hsu's case illustrates the sometimes-bizarre results of that tendency to push the envelope, often in ways the candidates know nothing about.

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.

Norman Hsu is a longtime and generous supporter of the Democratic Party and its candidates, including Sen. Clinton, Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for the campaign, said Tuesday.

"During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question or to return them."

STOP Read that again.

"During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question or to return them. "

HE”S A FUGITIVE He was to serve JAIL TIME He is GUILTY of Grand theft. Uh, just a question here, ever wonder where the money CAME from?

Wolfson did not immediately respond Tuesday night to questions about Hsu's legal problems.

Working on a spin.

Though he is a fugitive, Hsu has hardly kept a low profile. The website camerarts.com, which sells photographs taken at political events, features shots of Hsu at several fundraisers he hosted at Manhattan's elegant St. Regis hotel -- including a June 2005 luncheon for Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento).

Hsu lives in New York City. Efforts to contact him were unsuccessful. Barcella said Hsu chose to respond through his lawyer.

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.

The family includes a son, Winkle Paw, who Barcella said was in business with Hsu. Another son works for a Bay Area school board, while one daughter works for a hospital and another for a computer company.

That’s because the do not have the money. Hsu was basically laundering it through them, even though it is being denied.

"They have the financial wherewithal to make their own donations," Barcella said. "It didn't come from Norman."

Really? Where did they get it?

He said that Hsu had known the Paws for a decade.

"Norman never reimbursed anyone for their contribution," Barcella said. "It is a violation of federal law for one person to reimburse donors for campaign contributions."

No REALLY? Idiot. Of course Hsu would NEVER break the law. {Laughing}

Hsu's bundling of contributions from the Paws and others was first reported Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal.

Records show Hsu also solicited funds from three members of a New York family that helps run a plastics packaging plant in Pennsylvania. They have given more than $200,000 in the last three years.

Danny Lee, a manager at the packaging firm, has given $95,000 to federal Democratic campaigns -- $19,500 of which went to Clinton. Yu Fen Huang, who shares a New York house with Lee, has given $52,200 to Democrats, $8,800 to Clinton. Soe Lee has contributed $54,000 to Democrats, $8,800 to Clinton.

The Paws, the Lees and Huang did not return telephone calls seeking comment on their donations.

Over the years, Hsu and his associates have given to Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Barack Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. Obama and Biden, like Clinton, are seeking the presidential nomination.

WAIT CREW, are you taking notes? ALL these people took illegal contributions.

Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California,
Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts,
Barack Obama of Illinois
Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware

Are you calling for them to resign?

Hsu's legal troubles date back almost 20 years.

Beginning in 1989, court records show, he began raising what added up to more than $1 million from investors, purportedly to buy latex gloves; investors were told Hsu had a contract to resell the gloves to a major American business.

In 1991, Hsu was charged with grand theft. Prosecutors said there were no latex gloves and no contract to sell them.

Hsu pleaded no contest to one grand theft charge and agreed to accept up to three years in prison. He disappeared, Smetana said, after failing to show up for a sentencing hearing. Bench warrants were issued for his arrest but he was never found, Smetana said.

This is not going away folks. More on this breaking news to come. Let’s see if any of the other news agencies out there pick this up. I know if I were a Democratic Candidate running for the nomination, I would be making noise about this.

This is just another example of why I call them the LWL, and the Mainstream Press, the MMD. Craig is BIG news. This about the Clintons accepting money from a fugitive, and laundered money at that? “Well, let’s just hope it goes away.”

Peter