Although she had previously planned only to give back the $23,000 Hsu donated himself, Clinton has now decided to give back the $850,000 he finagled from others. Many “donors” were investors in Hsu’s business dealings, who say they were pressed into making the donations.
“They knew they had to do it or they were out,” said the investor, who asked to remain anonymous. “There were people who maxed out every credit card they had to give the maximum $4,600 in donations.”
She said she opposed Clinton’s presidential bid but gave money to her campaign anyway. “I can’t stand the woman,” the investor said.
I’m sure this woman will be happy to know she will get her money back.
In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement Monday night. “An estimated 260 donors this week will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from the campaign.”
No doubt the illegal investment scheme is the sole reason for returning the money. It couldn’t be the allegations that the donations themselves were illegal.
The FBI is investigating whether Hsu paid so-called straw donors to send campaign contributions to Clinton and other candidates, a law enforcement official said Monday.
Senator Clinton is being quite generous, though. She is graciously giving the donors the opportunity to return the money to her campaign after she returns it to them.
While Clinton will return the money raised by Hsu, Wolfson said the individual contributors could make new donations.
“We will accept their contributions and ask them to confirm for our records that they are from their own personal funds,” he said in an e-mail.
Kind of sounds like lots of donors will be taking vacations financed by Hsu- or would they be obliged to return the money to him, since they couldn’t follow through with their end of the deal?
