September 20, 2007
Posted: 03:15 PM ET

Clinton told CNN Thursday she doesn't think the Hsu matter will negatively affect her campaign.

NEW YORK (CNN) – Federal prosecutors have charged Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu with breaking campaign finance laws and creating a $60 million Ponzi scheme.

Federal prosecutors announced the criminal complaint Thursday at a press conference in Manhattan.

Hsu has raised money for several Democratic candidates, but most substantially for Sen. Hillary Clinton's, D-New York, presidential bid. Clinton's campaign has said it will return the $850,000 Hsu raised to the individual contributors.

Clinton told CNN's Jessica Yellin Thursday she is not worried Hsu's charge will have a negative affect on her campaign.

"Unfortunately none of us caught the problem that were there," she said. "This happened to a lot of campaigns, a lot of investors who made investments that unfortunately don't look like they were treated appropriately. The system of justice will work its course, and I think that's appropriate."

Filed under: Hillary Clinton • Norman Hsu


KP Richards Denver Co   September 21st, 2007 8:40 pm ET

Typical currpution that surrounds the Clintons. Their trail will mostly likely implicate the Clintons in some, then we will finally be RID of them!!!

John NC   September 21st, 2007 10:13 am ET

The Clinton's are very unethical.

Crissy Cruiser   September 21st, 2007 9:44 am ET

Here we go again! The Clintons will never say " oh I was wrong to do that or I will accept responsiblity for anything that I have done wrong". Money is the game and no rules apply to them. Stomp on the American People to get to the top for the pile of cash!

Jason Williamsport, MD   September 21st, 2007 9:24 am ET

It's amazing that the headlines always scream Hillary when it comes to this Hsu character - Edwards, Obama and many others received from him too! Your reporting on this story is a bit unbalanced!

John Florida   September 21st, 2007 8:26 am ET

Hillary doesnt have to worry, the media serve as her spin doctors. Its amazing how the democrats can do whatever they want and its a one day story. The republicans do something wrong and it never stops making the press. Democrats page 18, republicans front page, except that is when its good news then its Democrats page one, non item for the Republicans. The press is shaping the way the nation is going and the nation, following them will crash and burn. Wake up America were in trouble and the enemy is the Democrats, the choice of none less than Bin Laden.

FT Doylestown, Pa   September 20th, 2007 9:55 pm ET

The Clintons and MONEY…God, this happened years ago and Do we really need to Go here AGAIN!!!!
Some thing about the China connection and Clintons. Old Bill got the Great deal we have today with every thing coming from China. Now we find out they are killing our pets and trying to make our children Brain Dead!
Please God any one but Hillary…..

Nate, Minneapolis, MN   September 20th, 2007 9:24 pm ET

Hmmm…let's trade Hsu's name for Enron and Hiliary's for Bush…wonder what kind of coverage and outrage would follow…

San Diego, Sorta US, sorta Mexico   September 20th, 2007 8:24 pm ET

Maurice,

It's a referendum on Senator Clinton because she's a money-grubbing hack politician who's never too interested in where the money comes from, legal or otherwise, as long as it keeps coming in– like a lot of pols in both camps– or until it blows up in her face and she has to go into full blown Clintonian spin mode.

If this hadn't become a story she wouldn't have given back the money and she wouldn't have had another opportunity to demonstrate her fashionable Teflon pantsuit. The other Dems didn't get anywhere near the publicty Senator Clinton got when they returned their donations, probably because the amounts returned weren't in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.

OK, you can stay up another hour to listen to the adults talk, if you're quiet.

SD, Maryland   September 20th, 2007 8:18 pm ET

Carroll Ann:
Hillary was the only one who got a million. And I'm sure we haven't heard the grand total yet. Hillary is the only one who has a pattern of questionable campaign contributions. Google Peter Paul.

QUENTIN C. ATLANTA GEORGIA   September 20th, 2007 6:13 pm ET

I wonder how come no one is talking about the money Barack Obama recieved from Mr. Hsu? Mr. Obama was allowed to quietly give back the funds his campaign recieved from Mr. Hsu and allowed to slip out the back door on this story. Why is this a referendum just on Hillary? The truth of the matter is Mrs Clinton's campaign cannot possibly do a background check on each one of her donors NO MATTER HOW LARGE THE DONATIONS ARE. I thought the American electorate was smart enough to know that it is already expensive enough running a LARGE NATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL campaign let alone factoring in the cost of running background checks on donors.

Carrol Ann, Newport, Maine   September 20th, 2007 5:14 pm ET

Several of the presidential candidates accepted money from this person. This will not affect Hillary Clinton's run any more than it will the others, whom you should name in your articles about this, by the way. Hillary Clinton was not the only one to get sucked into this…name them all!!!

James, Phoenix AZ   September 20th, 2007 4:40 pm ET

Yes - let's hear from Mr Hsu. He was a "Hillraiser" and certainly had some influence. He wasn't a lowly $500 campaign check-in-the-mail. We've all seen it takes BIG checks to sit with Hillary at a fundraiser… even bigger checks to get her picture as did Hsu.

Let's hope Hsu decides to give the whole truth and not fear for his life.

Maurice, Washington, DC   September 20th, 2007 4:25 pm ET

Wow, why is this all of a sudden a referandum on Hillary Clinton? Hillary did the right thing by returning all the money she received from Mr. Hsu personally and the one he contributed from his bundlers. Mr. Hsu gave money to a lot of other democratic causes and not just to Hillary. If you are going to point fingers then be fair and point fingers at everyone who received money from Mr. Hsu.

It's not easy to vet everyone who contributes to your campaign. If you did that you will have no time for any other thing. Obama returned the money Mr. Hsu contributed to his campaign but he kept the portion that came from bundlers linked to Mr. Hsu. I don't hear anyone crying foul.

Hillary has nothing to be worried about because she had no prior knowledge of this and neither did the other democratic candidates around the country who have received funds from Mr. Hsu.

Do not forget that one of John Edward's friend has been charged with the same crime Mr. Hsu is being charged with. I don't see anyone crying foul. A mention of Hillary and you all forget about being fair and balanced…

Bill Charleston SC   September 20th, 2007 3:54 pm ET

What is unfortunate is that if this happened on the Republican side Hillary would be leading the charge for investigations screaming like a banshee.

Don't ask me to believe you didn't know Mrs Clinton, your past history with shady characters tells me otherwise.

Tom - Dedham, Mass   September 20th, 2007 3:49 pm ET

Please, please offer Hsu a deal to talk?

We want all the details of this case made public and lets not wait to start the process, time is a wasting.

Obama for the Democrats is looking better (and smarter) every second.

Comments have been closed for this article

subscribe RSS Icon
About The Ticker

The latest political news from CNN's Best Political Team, with campaign coverage, 24-7. Sign up for our twice daily Ticker emails. Got a news tip or feedback? For complete political coverage, bookmark CNNPolitics.com.

CNN=Politics Screensaver

CNN=Politics ScreensaverTap into the power of The Situation Room. Download this powerful new tool that keeps you posted on the latest political news from the campaign trail.
Download (4.1 MB, PC only)

Follow us on Twitter

CNN on TwitterGet Ticker updates the moment they appear online via the Web, SMS, or instant messages.
Follow politicalticker

Categories
CNN Comment Policy: CNN encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNN makes reasonable efforts to review all comments prior to posting and CNN may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNN the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNN Privacy Statement.
Home  |  World  |  U.S.  |  Politics  |  Entertainment  |  Health  |  Tech  |  Travel  |  Living  |  Business  |  Sports  |  Time.com
Podcasts  |  Blogs  |  CNN Mobile  |  Preferences |  Email Alerts  |  CNN Radio  |  CNN Shop  |  Site Map
© 2008 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by WordPress.com