Abu Wabu

In a Yahoo news story about Democrat bagman and convicted fraud Norman Hsu, his own lawyer raises, and in fact probably answers, a fascinating question:

(Hsu's attorney Jim) Brosnahan also said he would seek to undo Hsu's 15-year-old no contest plea in San Mateo County. He said the conviction "suffers from several infirmities," including the fact that state prosecutors appeared to put little effort into looking for Hsu once he skipped town.

"Mr. Hsu was not acting as a fugitive," Brosnahan said. Hsu appeared at prominent fundraisers on both coasts for high-profile candidates such as Clinton.

"Why didn't they go get him?" Brosnahan said outside court. "He was contributing to California politicians."

Let's see now, who might these California politicians be? Might as well start with the most interesting one from a legal standpoint: Jerry Brown, whose task it was as the state's top law enforcement officer to arrest Norman Hsu, who has been on the lam for the past fifteen years. Brown received $5500 from Hsu. Senator Dianne Feinstein received $22,162, Senator Barbara Boxer $5,000, Congresswoman Doris Matsui $16,850, and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma $27,600.

But that's just the California Democrats. The remaining recipients include a Who's Who of the party's leadership, including Barack Ubama, Bill Richardson, John Kerry, Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid and Elliot Spitzer. Oh yes, and Hillary! Rodham Clinton, to the tune of $850,000. And look at that, will ya, even the bright, shiny Stuart Smalley of Let's Rob The Children fame got in on the lolly.

Now it's obvious the Democrats were collectively playing Hide The Salami while Hsu was stuffing their pockets with the proceeds from an ongoing Ponzi scheme. Why would they do that? Was it simply an honest oversight? A lack of due diligence that will Never Happen Again? Not fucking likely, since Hsu's contributions were apparently run in co-ordination with a former member of Bill Clinton's cabinet. There's more to the story, involving other Clinton operatives. From Suitably Flip, who is all over this:

Two points are crucial here.

1) Ever since Hsu became a major fundraiser, there have been notable similarities between his and[Fred] Hochberg/[and his company] Lillian Vernon's contributions that strain the limits of coincidence. Not only is there significant overlap among several far-flung candidates who wouldn't typically be of much interest to New York businessmen, but the size and timing of many of the transactions further suggest the efforts are coordinated.
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Here, the Hsu-slighted senior Senator from New York [Chuck Schumer] pitches in by serving as the exception that proves the rule. Schumer actually used to enjoy regular financial support from Hochberg. He and his company made several sizable contributions to Schumer's campaigns between 1997 and 2003... then the gravy train came screeching to a halt. Not a single contribution after March 2003. It's anyone's guess why, but if Chuck did something to sour Hochberg, it would explain his conspicuous absence among both Hochberg's and Hsu's bountiful largesse heaped on just about every other notable Democrat in New York State over the following 4 years.

These are all anecdotal observations of course, but I've made the whole data set of Hsu-related transactions available, so you can go exploring for additional interestingly timed contributions.

2) Hochberg's political benefaction predates Hsu's by several years. While Hsu didn't get his start until 2003 and didn't really hit his stride until late 2004, Lillian Vernon and the Hochbergs contributed more than a half million dollars to Democrats in the decade prior to Hsu's political foray (and more than a quarter million more since). This suggests the slate of candidates whose palms Hsu has chosen to cross with silver these last few years was not the product of either Hsu's own ideology or any specific partisan motivation. It seems more likely that the pols Hsu began to grease were simply co-opted from Hochberg's list of favored candidates.
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But wait... there's more. Some cursory digging on Fred Hochberg reveals something interesting. He's a fellow HillRaiser. Thanks to a bit of alphabetical kismet, you can see his name directly above Hsu's on Hillary's official HillRaiser roster.

But wait... there's still more. Hochberg is also a dean at the New School, where Hsu was a trustee until this scandal broke last month and the school hurriedly removed his name from their website. Also on the New School board is Bernard Schwartz, one of Bill Clinton's biggest financial backers and the central figure in Clinton's scandal involving the sale of missile technology to China.

And the lily gilder: Fred Hochberg was a member of President Clinton's Cabinet.

There's more, more, more at Suitably Flip, who deserves as much traffic as possible:

Also blogging this today:
Ace of Spades (who hauled out the flaming skull for the occasion), Instapundit, Allah (praise him), LGF, Power Line, Captain Ed, Flopping Aces, Blue Crab Boulevard, JammieWearingFool, Right Voices. Together, they're bathing this site in a terribly agreeable traffic flood.

Previously:
Runaround Hsu: The Music Video
Hillary, Truth Not At Peace Over $850,000 Said Refunded [Update: Feds File Charges]
Another Clinton Bundler Accused of Reimbursing Donors
Hsu, Recobbled
Some Oddities About Hsu's Ostensibly Unwitting Woodstock Backer
Mesa County DA: $4 Million Bond Not Enough To Cage Hsu [Update: $5 Million Is?]
Dems Lowballing Hsu Fundraising Totals [Update: Hsu Offsets?]
Hsu Sent Suicide Note [Update: Blaming Obama]
Federal Agencies Unofficially Probing Hsu Scandal Number [At Least] 4
Hsu's Financing Source Revealed
Hillary's Massive Hsu War Chest: Abramoff Parity Nears
Photoblog: Touring Norman Hsu's New York
Hsu Captured! (Drugged?)
Hsu Still A HillRaiser In Good Standing?
Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Norman's Door.
Hsu Reclaims Fugitive Status, Forfeiting $2 Million Bail
Hsu vs. Abramoff
New Hsu Review: Following [the Rest Of] the Money
A Really Big Hsu...
Hillary Vows To Give [At Least Some Of] Hsu Contributions To Charity
From Now On, When the Phone Rings You Say, "Vandelay Industries."
Hillary's Magwitch?