Hsu! Gesundheit!
My guess is that there will be more than a few politicians developing a severe allergy to Norman Hsu and the bundling tactics he used in the next few days. Because the Washington Post is now starting to run down Hsu's donor lists. And it is a very curious mix of people. Including complete strangers.
Some donors among the nearly 100 identified this week said they never met Hsu and did not know that their donations had been credited to his fundraising. Others had trouble explaining why they gave the funds to Clinton or could not recall the circumstances in which they met Hsu.
"He called me and asked me if I'd give $1,000. . . . I don't know how you'd say we struck up a relationship. I just knew him," said Henry Rosenberg, a New York City lawyer. Asked if he wanted Clinton, New York's junior senator, to be the next president, Rosenberg said: "I don't know. He just asked me to do it, and I did."
Nay Oo, another Clinton donor for whom Hsu claimed credit, was listed in the candidate's fundraising reports with an address in Daly City, Calif. The home's owner, Ellen Yee, said Oo used to rent a room in the house but hadn't lived there for years. A man who returned a call to Oo's phone and identified himself as Oo said he works in an auto-body shop and does not know Hsu. He said he donated $250 to Clinton at the request of a landlord. "I thought it was going to be a tax write-off," he said.
As the Post points out, none of the individuals is alleged to have done any wrong here. It is a good idea to keep that in mind right now. Because this will almost certainly continue to be looked at under some very bright light. The Post managed to track down about 100 of Hsu's donors so far. The Post is also, despite their resources, well behind Flip, who has been bulldogging this in the blogospere. He's asking questions about a certain investment firm and how it does business now. (We won't perform the obvious wordplay here on the title of Flip's blog!) By the way, if you wonder about Flip's credentials, here they are.
