Clinton, others to give up money from suspect donor

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton will give to charity the $23,000 in donations she received from a fund-raiser who is wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand-theft charge.

The decision came yesterday as other Democrats distanced themselves from Norman Hsu, whose legal encounters and links to other Democratic donors have drawn public scrutiny.

Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.) planned to turn over Hsu donations to his 2004 presidential campaign to charity. Rep. Joe Sestak (D., Pa.), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.), and comedian Al Franken, a Senate candidate in Minnesota, were among others who also said they would divest their campaigns of Hsu's donations.

In a statement, Hsu, a Hong Kong native, said he believed he had resolved his legal issues and was unaware he faced a warrant. "I have not sought to evade any of my obligations and certainly not the law," he said. He said he would halt his work raising political money.

Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer said the $23,000 included contributions from Hsu to her presidential campaign, her Senate reelection, and her political action committee. The campaign did not plan to return any money Hsu raised from other donors, Singer said.

"We will be giving his contribution to charity," he said.

Reports in the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times this week have led numerous Democratic candidates and organizations who have benefited from Hsu's donations to reconsider them.

Hsu gave $4,000 to Kerry's presidential campaign and $2,000 to a separate Kerry legal compliance fund. Sestak got $1,000 for his reelection effort.

Federal Election Commission records show that Hsu has donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004. He also donated to Sen. Barack Obama's Senate campaign in 2004 and to Obama's political action committee.

In 1991, Hsu pleaded no contest to a felony count of grand theft but failed to show up in court for sentencing, according to California prosecutor Ronald Smetana. He said Hsu collected about $1 million from investors by falsely claiming he had a contract to import latex gloves. Smetana said he planned to ask a judge to sentence Hsu to prison.