FBI Begins Investigating Hsu's Fundraising Network

The FBI has begun examining a murky business venture run by disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu that paid out hefty profits over the last several years to investors, some of whom were pressed to make contributions to Hillary Rodham Clinton and other political candidates.

Sources told The Times on Sunday that a number of participants and their associates in Southern California and elsewhere had been in contact with the FBI about an investment pool operated by Hsu.

One associate, Irvine businessman Jack Cassidy, said he had tried to warn authorities and the Clinton campaign as early as June that he feared Hsu was running an illicit enterprise, but had gotten no response.

"Nobody picked up the ball," said Cassidy, who was not an investor but heard about Hsu's business from a friend.

Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson declined to respond to Cassidy's claim, saying only that the campaign had conducted a background check of Hsu, who has emerged in the last three years as one of the Democratic Party's biggest fundraisers.

Read the full story here.

Comments

[loki]

I hope they nail this guy if he really did this.
I also always wondered how it is that if I were to have excepted this clowns money, I would be in jail, but because a politician does, they just have to "agree" to give it back and everything is fine. It happens with every political party , every year, and nothing ever happens to any of them. Most of them probably know where it came from anyway, and know they shouldnt have it. Its the overwhelming Greed factor in politics that cause this to keep happening.

[farseer]

With Hillary in the presidency, what kind of First Gentleman would BC make? Ask Juanita Broaddrick about that ... No, not sorry for trotting out old stuff. ... Do we really want the Lincoln bedroom up for rent again? Come on, Dems, can't we do better?

[MmeFlutterbye]

Tiresome...that photo of Hillary and Hsu...You'd think he didn't give money to anyone else!!! I know that Huffpost is not fond of Hillary...but this is ridiculous and boring!!!! And so are some of the right-wing remarks above...their "sense of humor" is juvenile...far from clever...boring, also. How come they're so obsessed with the Clintons? Envy most likely.

[mikal214]

stop running this frigging picture of hillary when obama took an assfull of money from him as well.

and don't tell me he didn't because the article was hidden on here just a couple of days ago...of course arrianna didn't feature some tired pic of obama and hsu like the tired one she keeps recycling on here.

shame, shame.

[kingcityguru]

The Clintons are in the pocket of the Chinese government.

If this was a Republican scandal it would be at the top of HuffPo each and every day.

[mediamarv]

I find it interesting that the pic with Hillary has resurfaced after a day or so of just one showing hsu coming out of a building...
FBI is investigating him, not hillary. Little bit of sloppy editorializing, there huff po interns???

Clean up your act or go work for Politico which doesn't try to hide it's right wing bias.

[RWFOOL]

A pox on all of them, democrat and republican. And they wonder why their approval ratings are in the dumper. There isn't one I trust anymore.

[clumberfeet]

The un-politicized Justice Department has time for this but no time proceeding with the Tom DeLay indictment.

[TJTelecaster]

The Manchurian Candidate..!

Moohaaahaa...

Be afraid be very afraid..

[GreatFutureForAll]

This is the second or third time I can recall the Clinton campaign waiting until the media discovered a rogue contributor before disavowing any connection to the person.

It falls perfectly in line with what Clinton said in a Democratic debate after John Edwards challenged her not to take any more money from Washington lobbyists.

Clinton: "You know, a lot of those lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans. They actually do. They represent nurses. They represent, you know, social workers. They represent … yes, they represent corporations."

Here's the real question: Who does she NOT take money from as long as they, presumably, stay out of trouble?

Axe-murderers? Serial rapists? Senator Larry Craig? I mean, where does it stop? What's the criteria?

To be fair, team Clinton claimed to have no knowledge of this very successful campaign bundler.

Yet, this assertion flies in the face of what businessman Jack Cassidy said when he asserted that he warned the Clinton folks about Hsu.

But, as Cassidy said of the Clinton team: "Nobody picked up the ball."

The real question is WHY???

If the Clinton campaign chose to do nothing despite the dire warning from Cassidy, did anyone from her team really care?

Or will there be yet another explanation forthcoming; one proclaiming absolute innocence and a series of honest mistakes?

After all, they are the Clintons. They've already won the Democratic nomination.

[RandyRanson]

Arianna once again doing her best to slime Hillary Clinton, when the real culprit of the criminal story is Mr. Hsu. Arianna, thinks that by continuing to show a picture of Hillary and Mr. Hsu, she can indirectly impugn Hillary's character, through character assassination, and insinuation, that somehow Hillary must be involved with Mr. Hsu's wrong doing. Nothing is further from the truth, but cheap little Arianna Huffington, must get her digs in. Arianna has been attacking Hillary now, for over two years, and not only does it show, it's a telling commentary on how petty Arianna can be. Both pitiful and pathetic. Who's backing the Huffington Post, and are their characters in good stead with the law, or do they have some shady past miss-happen-stances, sitting in their closets too.

[VSamuels]

I'll let Arianna defend herself but your comment is nonsense.

This Clinton campaign has been tagged again and again as a 'machine' which works perfectly and does not make mistakes. Clearly, the accepting of donations does come with risks, but someone who has assisted in raising 900,000 (which has to be returned) should have been better vetted by the so-called frontrunner---Clintons.

Hillary like George Bush, hires those who are willing to manage 'deceit' as a normal course of their strategy. We are merely witnessing the actions of a possible future president who will manipulate the core democrat base as Bush manipulated the core republican base. The likelihood that Hillary wouldn't employ the dangerous precedents laid out by Bush is low.

One gathers little sense that the Clintons are truthful, open or honest; yet one does gather the sense that they would manage our domestic problems much better, as they bounce from scandal to scandal.

[abbiehoffmansghost]

My name is Hsu,
How do you do.

[mulegino]

Mr. Hsu is another reason that, should Mrs. Clinton receive the nomination, Americans should prepare for at least another 4 years of a GOP occupant in the White House.
In their characteristic fashion, the Clintons have again provided Rove, Inc. more rope to hang them with.
What is it that the Democratic leadership does not understand about the American electorate wanting a change of course? Of course, the DLC may just be a front organization of Rove,Inc. after all.

[Destin]

The FBI sure is quick as lightning to go after a Dem fundraiser and cast a wide net for ANYONE involved.

But Abramoff?? They did that to quickly slap him on the wrist and shut him up. They never investigated Abramoff's network AT ALL.

Too bad the FBI thinks it's part of the Executive branch instead of the Judicial branch, maybe then we'd have some actual justice once in a while, instead of policing politics.

[mulegino]

This is just one more reason that, should Hillary get the nomination, we should prepare for at least another 4 years of a GOP occupant of the White House. At every turn, the Clintons provide Rove,Inc. with the rope to hang them. The motivated base of the Democratic party [not the elitists of the DLC] is clamoring for change, and this is the candidate that is the "front runner"? The Clintons have enough dirty laundry to keep Procter and Gamble in business for another hundred years, yet this is blithely ignored by the "happy talk" faction of the Party-namely elitists who hedge their campaign contributions between two or more candidates, international fugitives like Mr. Hsu, who probably hope for a pardon a la Marc Rich, starry eyed celebrity worshipers who think that it's more important to nominate a woman than it is to elect a progressive Democrat.