August 28, 2007

The Clinton Campaign offers us a lesson on how to launder campaign donations

Posted by LSU @ 10:35 pm

Is this coincidence or is this a scheme to 'launder' campaign donations?  I believe it is a carefully arranged way to direct money to campaigns, bypassing campaign donation limits, and not a coincidence.  And likely, perfectly legal, in a wink nudge way.

The WSJ story caught my eye:

Big Source of Clinton's Cash Is an Unlikely Address

One of the biggest sources of political donations to Hillary Rodham Clinton is a tiny, lime-green bungalow that lies under the flight path from San Francisco International Airport.

Six members of the Paw family, each listing the house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. as their residence, have donated a combined $45,000 to the Democratic senator from New York since 2005, for her presidential campaign, her Senate re-election last year and her political action committee. In all, the six Paws have donated a total of $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005, election records show.

That total ranks the house with residences in Greenwich, Conn., and Manhattan's Upper East Side among the top addresses to donate to the Democratic presidential front-runner over the past two years, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of donations listed with the Federal Election Commission.

It isn't obvious how the Paw family is able to afford such political largess. Records show they own a gift shop and live in a 1,280-square-foot house that they recently refinanced for $270,000. William Paw, the 64-year-old head of the household, is a mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service who earns about $49,000 a year, according to a union representative. Alice Paw, also 64, is a homemaker. The couple's grown children have jobs ranging from account manager at a software company to "attendance liaison" at a local public high school. One is listed on campaign records as an executive at a mutual fund.

Till this point it is all coincidence.  Until:

The Paws' political donations closely track donations made by Norman Hsu, a wealthy New York businessman in the apparel industry who once listed the Paw home as his address, according to public records.

Whoops.  Not a coincidence after all.

Mr. Hsu is one of the top fund-raisers for Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign. He has hosted or co-hosted some of her most prominent money-raising events.(emphasis mine)

People who answered the phone and the door at the Paws' residence declined requests for comment last week.

But, and this completes the picture:

In an email last night, one of the Paws' sons, Winkle, said he had sometimes been asked by Mr. Hsu to make contributions, and sometimes he himself had asked family members to donate. But he added: "I have been fortunate in my investments and all of my contributions have been my money."

Sure.  Let's say I give you a 1000 bucks.  Now it's all yours.  So if you donate it, it is your donation.  Makes perfect sense.

Pleeeeze.

Hsu's defense is weak:

Mr. Hsu, in an email last night wrote: "I have NEVER asked a single favor from any politician or any charity group. If I am NOT asking favors, why do I have to cheat…I've asked friends and colleagues of mine to give money out of their own pockets and sometimes they have agreed."

Again, pleeeze.  That is no defense at all. And as Hot Air notes:

Exit question: Why on earth would Hsu have ever said he lived at their address if it wasn’t true? What motive would he have to lie about that? If this is all just a scheme to launder donations, that tidbit is a hot yet totally unnecessary lead.

Indeed.

And by all rights, it is likely perfectly legal. 

But maybe not.  Hsu is tied to quite a few 'coincidences', as seen at Suitably Flip.

Say what you will, the Clintons and their cronies are not stupid.

And before anyone starts, I will state categorically that while these allegations revolve around Hillary, I have no doubt some conservatives employ similar means.  This is part of why the campaign finance laws are a joke.

Filed under: Elections, National

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  1. On August 29, 2007 at 2:55 pm, Red Marilyn wrote:

    Have you seen the photo of the tiny green house under the airport flight path that all those Paw contributors "live" in?  Hill will survive it, dontcha think?  (Those pants suits are made of industrial strength teflon). What some of the conservatives, and others, have done, as I remember, is to put the missus or the offspring on the campaign staff payroll and pay them exorbitant wads of cash for their labors.  My favorite one is still the copious contributions to the Clinton campaign from the Buddhist nunnery visited by Al Gore just before the Mother Superior scarpered off to China during the somewhat tepid media scrutiny.  :)

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