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Just as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and several Democratic congressmen are doing, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has given to charity the campaign contributions from a donor who, it was reported last week, was wanted on an arrest warrant in the early 1990s.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-Rhode Island, at first said he was not giving away campaign funds received from the donor, Norman Tsu, but then reversed course later today.
In an e-mail early today, spokeswoman Robin Costello said, "At this time, we do not plan on divesting the money. We are complying with all the rules and regulations related to campaing contributions and if something changes with respect to those rules, we'll take appropriate action."
Tsu had turned himself in to authorities on Friday. But, the Associated Press reported later today, Hsu is a wanted man again after he failed to show up for a court date today and a judge issued a new warrant for his arrest.
This afternoon, Kennedy's spokeswoman confirmed the congressman would give the money to charity.
"We were inclined to let the legal process run its course, but in light of this morning’s hearing, the congressman has decided to give the money to charity," Costello said by e-mail.
Hsu, whose criminal past has roiled the campaigns of top presidential candidates, was scheduled to ask a judge to cut in half the $2 million bail he posted last week when he turned himself in after spending 15 years on the lam from a felony theft conviction.
Instead, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Robert Foiles ordered Hsu’s bail forfeited to the county and issued a new arrest warrant. If Hsu is arrested again, he will be jailed without bail this time.
Hsu, a Hong Kong native, was also supposed to turn over his passport today. Hsu’s prominent Silicon Valley criminal defense attorney Jim Brosnahan said Hsu failed to give the passport to the legal team on Monday.
“Mr. Hsu is not here and we do not know where Mr. Hsu is,” Brosnahan said outside court. Brosnahan said that “there was some contact” with Hsu a few hours before the scheduled 9 a.m. court appearance, but he declined to say how and who talked to Hsu.
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney and The Associated Press
Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he’d defrauded investors of $1 million after falsely claiming to have contracts to purchase and sell Latex gloves. He was facing up to three years in prison when he skipped town before his 1992 sentencing date.
Prosecutors said they suspected Hsu fled the country then. But a few years ago, Hsu re-emerged in New York as an apparel executive and a wealthy benefactor of Democratic causes and candidates. They included presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, whose campaign designated Hsu a “HillRaiser” —a title given to top donors.
Several Democrats -- presidential candidates and congressmen -- last week were divesting themselves of money received from Norman Tsu, who was wanted by authorities in California in a fraud case, according to news reports. Tsu turned himself in last week.
Fellow Rhode Island Democrats Reed and Kennedy each received contributions from Hsu, online campaign finance reports show.
The New York Times reported last week that Clinton's presidential campaign is giving to charity the $23,000 it got from Hsu. And another Times article Friday, under the headline "Democrats turn from big donor who's fugitive," said campaigns around the country were returning Hsu's money.
A check of online filings with the Federal Elections Commission showed that Hsu twice gave $1,000 -- dated March 15 and June 28 -- to Kennedy's campaign. And Hsu twice gave $2,100 to the campaign on June 7, 2005, according to the filings.
Reed's campaign received a $2,300 donation and a $200 donation from Hsu on Feb. 28 this year.
Both Kennedy and Reed were named in different reports by national newspapers, including the Times and The Wall Street Journal, as having received contributions from Hsu.
Hsu's donations to Kennedy's campaign listed him as director of Next Components Ltd. once and director of Components Ltds the other times. The donations to Reed's campaign listed Hsu as director of Components Ltd.
Both company names were mentioned in a New York Times article, which included a listing of many company names Hsu put on finance reports when donating to candidates.
Brosnahan said he didn’t know if Hsu returned to his Manhattan condominium or stayed in California after his five-hour jail stint Friday when Hsu turned himself in. He was released from jail after posting $2 million bail, which a judge refused then to reduce to $1 million.
Prosecutors with the California attorney general’s office had agreed to the bail reduction because it would be used to reimburse the victims Hsu admitted swindling out of $1 million in the early 1990s.
“We did think that was enough,” Deputy Attorney General Ralph Sivilla said outside court. Sivilla also said he was troubled that Hsu didn’t turn in his passport.
Federal Election Commission records show Hsu donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004. Though a top fundraiser for Clinton, he also donated to Obama’s Senate campaign in 2004 and to his political action committee. He also contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to state and municipal candidates.
Obama’s campaign said it would give to charity the $2,000 Hsu contributed to his 2004 Senate campaign and the $5,000 Hsu gave to his political action committee, Hopefund.
Hsu’s $43,700 in donations to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $2,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also will go to charity, both groups said.
Clinton joined the other candidates, returning $23,000 in contributions that Hsu made to her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac. But his close association with her campaign put Clinton on the defensive.
Last week, Hsu said he thought the criminal charges had been taken care of when he completed his bankruptcy proceedings in the early 1990s.
“I have not sought to evade any of my obligations and certainly not the law,” Hsu said in a prepared statement.
-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney and The Associated Press
