Digging Up Dirty Money

Flip over at Suitably Flip is definitely the go to guy on all things relating to Norman Hsu's contributions to Democrats. He has waded through a bunch of public records and has uncovered a lot of very - unusual - contributions. And some serious indications that Hsu may have been recognized as being a very questionable guy long before the recent ruckus started.

If you look through the transaction-level tab of the spreadsheet, you may notice a peculiar transaction on October 8, 2004, when Hsu himself contributed $26,600 to the California Democratic Party - the second largest contribution made by anyone during the whole sordid affair.  What makes this one odd is the fact that the party later returned the entire sum (the refund was dated "Unknown" on the campaign finance disclosure).  Alert Hsu-trackers will remember that the California Democratic Party was tipped off this past June about Hsu's shady dealings and that the party went on to forward that tip to the Clinton campaign (though Hillary wouldn't make a peep or pledge any refunds until after the glaring improprieties became front page news two months later).

The timing of Hsu's $26,600 contribution the California Democratic Party and their subsequent, leanly detailed refund of that donation during the 2004 cycle suggest that the state party may have had good reason to disassociate with Hsu more than 2.5 years earlier.  There is, of course, any number of reasons a contribution might be refunded, but unfortunately, my attempts to clarify when and why this huge donation was returned have thus far been fruitless.

So if someone in California knew something was fishy about Hsu in 2004, why were other Democrats - including Hillary! Clinton, still taking money from him without checking him out? Interesting, isn't it? As Flip points out, the totals between Abramoff and Hsu are nearly identical - hmmmmm. Culture of what exactly again?