J's Cafe Nette

It seems as though the Clinton campaign continues to have difficulties with those “bundled” contributions:

When Hillary Rodham Clinton held an intimate fund-raising event at her Washington home in late March, Pamela Layton donated $4,600, the maximum allowed by law, to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign.

But the 37-year-old Ms. Layton says she and her husband were reimbursed by her husband’s boss for the donations. “It wasn’t personal money. It was all corporate money,” Mrs. Layton said outside her home here. “I don’t even like Hillary. I’m a Republican.”

The boss is William Danielczyk, founder of a Washington-area private-equity firm and a major fund-raising “bundler” for Mrs. Clinton. Mrs. Layton’s gift was one of more than a dozen donations that night from people with Republican ties or no history of political giving. Mr. Danielczyk and his family, employees and friends donated a total of $120,000 to Mrs. Clinton in the days around the fund-raiser.

Of particular interest :

Other Republican voters who contributed the maximum amount to Mrs. Clinton at this event included Mr. Danielczyk’s mother, sister, personal assistant and a half-dozen employees or their spouses. Most of the donors had never made a political donation before contributing $4,600 to Mrs. Clinton, according to fund-raising records.

That certainly was not the end of the news today on monies donated to the Clinton campaign. From the WaPo:

Clinton includes on her list of “Hillraisers” — those who have committed to raising more than $100,000 for her White House bid — several financiers linked to past troubles. They include Marvin Rosen, the former Democratic National Committee finance chairman whose efforts to reward six-figure party donors with attendance at White House coffees and overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom became the focal point of Senate hearings into fundraising abuses. Rosen did not return messages left at his offices in Florida and New York.

William Stuart Price, the Oklahoma oilman also on the “Hillraiser” list, stunned a courtroom in 1995 when he detailed how his former gas company had tried to “gain influence” with the Clinton administration by providing $160,000 in money and membership in a ritzy Washington golf club to the son of a Cabinet secretary. Price, who was never accused of wrongdoing, did not return calls seeking comment.

Price’s testimony became the focal point of a criminal investigation of Ron Brown, then commerce secretary and a former chairman of the Democratic Party. The inquiry ended with the conviction of Price’s former bosses, Nora and Gene Lum, for making illegal donations.

Also on the list is former senator Robert G. Torricelli (D-N.J.), who withdrew from a 2002 reelection campaign after being “severely admonished” by the Senate for taking lavish gifts from a businessman and contributor, David Chang. Torricelli did not return messages left at his office yesterday.

“It seems like deja vu,” said Michael Madigan, a Republican lawyer who helped lead an extensive investigation into the Clinton administration’s 1996 fundraising practices by then-Sen. Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.). “It sounds like a carbon copy of the last Clinton campaign.”

There is an excellent round-up of all things Hsu (there is a lot of news incorporated in this one post) at Suitably Flip. Of particular interest is an email which begins:

I thought you might be interested in learning that contrary to a statement by Howard Wolfson on September 10th 2007 “an estimated 260 donors this week will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from the campaign” this money still has not been returned – at least not to me. I know this because I was a donor who had my arm twisted to make a contribution to Hillary Clinton’s campaign on behalf of Norman Hsu and I haven’t seen a dime returned. It’s very easy to see my contribution as I completed a form which had “Hillary for President” at the top and “Contact/Code, if any: Norman Hsu” at the bottom. I made the donation through American Express making it easy to trace and easy to return.

And it goes on and on and on.

How many excuses will we expect to hear? I thought about this yesterday and think Mrs. Clinton owes OJ Simpson a lunch..first he endorses her then he knocks this funding issue right out of the pages of the papers and from tv screens.

Well that was short lived and as of today the Senator is back in the news. No, this is not going away. As a matter of fact one must wonder how large it will grow.

Written by Sue

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