Uh oh. This story breaking in the LA Times could cause some trouble for Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama.
More below the fold.
UPDATE: There seems to be a reasonable explanation here as pointed out on MediaMatters. Whether or not Mr. Hsu had some previous run-in with the law is really not relevant so long as the money that flowed through the Paw's was on the up and up which is all that matters legally. Whether or not this will be spun to negative effect, we'll just have to wait and see.
Lately there have been some questions about the fundraising "methods" and contributions of Mr. Hsu to various candidates.
Hsu has developed a specialty of bundling hefty campaign contributions from obscure citizens who live modest lives and have never before given money to campaigns. Many are not even registered to vote.
Over the years other recipients of Hsu donations have included Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Edward Kennedy.
Now there are rumblings that he is in fact a wanted fugitive after skipping out on grand theft swindling charges that netted a 36 month prison term which he apparently agreed to serve.
"He is a fugitive," said Ronald Smetana of the California attorney general's office. "Do you know where he is?"
This could be nothing, but given that it is one of the progressive netroots goals to inject a little integrity back into fundraising and the political process generally, we should watch this closely. My personal opinion is we need to always make sure we are consistent and have our own house in order before we drop the hammer on the GOP for their ethical and moral transgressions otherwise we look like, dare I say it--hypocrites. And in light of the perception in some circles that electing Dems to the majority hasn't yielded promised changes, this sort of thing has a way of gaining unwanted traction and taking on a life of its own.
Then again maybe GOP scandals happening exponentially and being of a more prurient quality, this little political shiner won't even require the application of a cold pack of peas. Hard to say.