Suitably Flip

Norman Hsu Wants Trial Delayed On Account Of Madoff Prejudice

Thus is our hunky President-elect now publicly (if quite indirectly) tied not only to the Blagojevich spectacle, but also the Bernie Madoff scam.

We're just sprinting through that honeymoon at this point, eh?

In addition to the Rod Blagojevich pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme. According to investigators, Hsu, a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, pressured investors to donate money to political candidates with whom he was aligned. In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, Hsu's lawyer, Martin Cohen, requested a 60-day delay in the start of Hsu's trial, scheduled to open January 12 (Cohen cited the "extraordinary level of negative publicity" generated by the recent arrest of alleged Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff). In his December 22 letter, a copy of which you'll find below, Cohen also noted that Hsu was already "notorious for his political activities" and that it was "inevitable" that his client's "connections" to Bill and Hillary Clinton "and other democratic notables--including perhaps the president-elect--will be introduced at trial." Before becoming a key fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Hsu co-hosted a 2005 California fundraiser for Obama's political action committee and introduced the Illinois Democrat to Marc Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who later joined the Obama campaign's national finance committee. Prosecutors allege that Hsu directed his investors to donate money to specific candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal campaign laws. Unswayed by Cohen's argument, Marrero declined to delay the trial, which will begin a week before Obama's inauguration.

Indeed, after Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, and Eliot Spitzer (all local politicians from Norman Hsu's perspective), Barack Obama was the largest beneficiary of Hsu's illicit largesse.  The tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from Hsu's alleged straw donor network to Obama arrived over the course of at least 26 transactions, dating back as far as 2004.

The Smoking Gun has a copy of the letter from Hsu's lawyer.

Previously: Suitably Flip: Norman Hsu Index

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Norman Hsu Wants Trial Delayed On Account Of Madoff Prejudice

Thus is our hunky President-elect now publicly (if quite indirectly) tied not only to the Blagojevich spectacle, but also the Bernie Madoff scam.

We're just sprinting through that honeymoon at this point, eh?

In addition to the Rod Blagojevich pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme. According to investigators, Hsu, a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, pressured investors to donate money to political candidates with whom he was aligned. In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, Hsu's lawyer, Martin Cohen, requested a 60-day delay in the start of Hsu's trial, scheduled to open January 12 (Cohen cited the "extraordinary level of negative publicity" generated by the recent arrest of alleged Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff). In his December 22 letter, a copy of which you'll find below, Cohen also noted that Hsu was already "notorious for his political activities" and that it was "inevitable" that his client's "connections" to Bill and Hillary Clinton "and other democratic notables--including perhaps the president-elect--will be introduced at trial." Before becoming a key fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Hsu co-hosted a 2005 California fundraiser for Obama's political action committee and introduced the Illinois Democrat to Marc Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who later joined the Obama campaign's national finance committee. Prosecutors allege that Hsu directed his investors to donate money to specific candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal campaign laws. Unswayed by Cohen's argument, Marrero declined to delay the trial, which will begin a week before Obama's inauguration.

Indeed, after Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, and Eliot Spitzer (all local politicians from Norman Hsu's perspective), Barack Obama was the largest beneficiary of Hsu's illicit largesse.  The tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from Hsu's alleged straw donor network to Obama arrived over the course of at least 26 transactions, dating back as far as 2004.

The Smoking Gun has a copy of the letter from Hsu's lawyer.

Previously: Suitably Flip: Norman Hsu Index