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September 18, 2007
Clinton Fundraising Scandal Redux?
“Once bitten twice shy” just doesn’t apply
by Tina Grazier
The Hsu fundraising scandal swirls lightly around the edges of Hillary’s presidential campaign but it should be getting a lot more attention. Of course...it won’t. Still, our loyal readers deserve to be informed and should know exactly why this story would have giant “legs” in the press...if they adequately covered democrat scandals.
Investors Business Daily features a story on the editorial page, “She Hsu’d Have Known Better,” that reminds us of the fundraising scandal in the 1990's involving Chinese donors and Charlie Trie during her husbands re-election bid:
Rewind to 1996, when Hillary headed her husband's legal defense fund during his re-election bid. **** On April 4 of that year, she received a damage-control briefing from fund trustees and a top White House aide about more than $600,000 in questionable donations bundled by Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, a Chinese bagman who ran a restaurant in Little Rock, Ark. **** The largest chunk of the haul — $463,000 — raised flags among fund trustees, because it was delivered by Trie in two manila envelopes stuffed full of sequentially numbered money orders from different parts of the country. All bore the same handwriting.
The whole thing was kept pretty much under wraps until after the election, but investigations by the FBI and Congress finally revealed Hillary and Bill’s full knowledge of events. The following notes by Harold Ickes’ were taken at a briefing attended by Hillary Clinton:
"Charlie Trie — Money orders — Don't report names if $ are returned," Ickes wrote. "Could return all $ & ask people to resend it if they want." **** "BC/HRC to put it out of his mind and wait until after the election."
The current scheme is not just a fundraising coincidence for Senator Clinton. As the article says, it’s “déjà vu.” Consider:
She was briefed about the prior scandal by an aide who's advising her campaign today. **** Harold Ickes is again involved, this time as her campaign adviser. **** Terry McAuliffe, who was responsible for the Chinese donations in ’96, is heading her fundraising campaign. **** Hillary's presidential campaign knew since at least June that there were serious questions about China-born Hsu. **** She agreed to return the $860,000 but only after the scandal broke in the press. **** She has declined to publicly identify the 260 donors, and may ask for some of the funds back.
It’s funny how air headed the “smartest woman in the world” can be when it suits her.
Find the IBD article here:
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=274920911474350
And please, vote wisely in 2008.
Posted by Post Scripts at September 18, 2007 12:25 AM