The Pink Flamingo :: Are Candidates Responsible for the Foibles of Their Supporters

Maybe we need to start by considering the possibility of outlawing bundling.

HILLARY AND HER HSU COLLECTION
I need to apologize for my constant use of puns. It’s just too good….!

Is there something terribly wrong with Hillary Clinton and her ex-bundler Norman Hsu or are conservatives once again jumping to conclusions about the Clintons? I know we all want to think the worst of the Clintons but this is one of those times when I’m just not sure. Are they perfectly innocent and Norman Hsu is just one good con artist? Currently I am thinking this is the case. The man is not dumb and appeared to be playing off the Clinton address book.

Then again, maybe there is something more.

The WPost’s article.

“…Democrat John Edwards's list of bundlers includes well-known fellow trial lawyer William S. Lerach, who raised $80,000 from his family and law firm partners for the candidate after a government probe had begun of Lerach's wrongdoing, campaign aides confirmed yesterday. Lerach pleaded guilty this week to a conspiracy charge, prompting Edwards to announce that he will give back Lerach's personal donations but not the money Lerach raised from others.
A close look at donors who have collected large sums from hundreds of people to give to the presidential candidates makes it clear that Norman Hsu, the convicted thief who attracted attention last month for donating $850,000 to Hillary Clinton, is far from the only controversial figure to play a major fundraising role in campaigns.

Republican Mitt Romney's list of bundlers until recently included Alan Fabian, who was charged in a 23-count indictment last month alleging mail fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore. Fabian's lawyer, David B. Irwin, has declined to comment about the merits of the case but told The Post last month: "We are hoping for an early resolution of the matter."…

….” Edwards's campaign declined to discuss how much it knew about Lerach's legal problems while Lerach raised money. Campaign officials also said they do not consider the statement about the Enron case a favor to a major donor and fundraiser.

"This position is consistent with John Edwards's long-standing support for protecting the retirement savings of middle-class families and is shared by many others, including the New York Times editorial page, Securities and Exchange Commission, Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd, and a coalition of consumer groups, to name a few," Edwards spokeswoman Colleen Murray said.

Lerach is the second Edwards fundraiser to face legal troubles in the past year. Lawyer Geoffrey Fieger was indicted in August on federal charges of conspiring to route more than $125,000 in illegal contributions to Edwards's 2004 presidential bid. Fieger has pleaded not guilty.

Edwards's campaign has said it knew nothing about Fieger's alleged scheme and has cooperated with the Justice Department. But the campaign has declined to refund the donations in question, waiting for the outcome of Fieger's trial to avoid influencing jurors. If he is convicted, the campaign has said it plans to send his donations to charity.

Robert Lichfield, Romney's former Utah finance co-chairman, is the subject of lawsuits alleging abusive treatment at the boarding schools Lichfield founded for troubled youths. He resigned from the campaign in July. Romney's campaign did not respond to inquiries about how much money Fabian, the finance committee member indicted last month, raised before he left the campaign. Lichfield's attorney has called the lawsuit's allegations against him "ludicrous."

Hsu, the Democratic fundraiser who was one of the Clintons' top 15 bundlers, donated to other prominent Democrats, including the political action committees for rival presidential candidates Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr. Obama, the Democrat most directly challenging Clinton for the lead in presidential fundraising so far, acknowledged that Hsu co-hosted a fundraiser for his PAC, called the Hopefund, in March 2005.

"The most important thing I learned about this issue is that all campaigns have the same problem, regardless of party or candidate: How do you know who has skeletons and who does not?" said Lanny Davis, who as special counsel to Bill Clinton handled campaign finance issues for him from 1996 to 1998. "Let's face it: Campaign organizations are not 'CSI' -- not even close -- even if they'd like to be."…”

Malkin
Captain’s Quarters
Sister Toldjah
Blue Crab Blvd

Is Hillary responsible because Hsu was running what appears to be a $60 ponzi scheme?

“…One case involved a Madison Avenue private-equity fund, whose manager asked investors this spring to donate to the presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to investors.
Although the fund isn't named in the complaint, a person familiar with the matter said it was Source Financing Investors, managed by Joel Rosenman, an organizer of the 1969 Woodstock rock-music festival. Mr. Rosenman's involvement with Mr. Hsu was detailed in a Sept. 12 article in The Wall Street Journal. A lawyer for Mr. Rosenman declined to comment.

Mr. Rosenman gave investors a contribution form listing Mr. Hsu as a contact, according to investors. When one investor asked who Mr. Hsu was, Mr. Rosenman told him Mr. Hsu was the designer who had made the fund so successful, promising to deliver nearly $10 million more in profits this year -- a return of about 25%. The investor then donated $2,300.

"Hsu made implied threats to the victims leading them to believe that their failure to make the required political contributions would adversely affect the victims' ongoing investment relationship with Hsu," the complaint alleges.

But the apparel business that Mr. Hsu ran was a "massive Ponzi scheme," according to the complaint. When it unraveled, Mr. Hsu owed Mr. Rosenman's fund $40 million -- as well as another $20 million to investors in California and elsewhere.

Mr. Rosenman donated the maximum $4,600 this year to Mrs. Clinton, records show. Other members of his family donated as well, along with other investors in Source Financing Investors….”