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Politics

Fundraiser appears on theft charge

By Times Wires
Published September 1, 2007

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.

After defying an arrest warrant since 1992, a valued and reliable rainmaker for the Democratic Party surrendered Friday at a California court to face a grand theft charge.

The 10-minute hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court was the culmination of a stunningly quick fall from grace for California businessman Norman Hsu, who remade himself into a New York apparel executive and benefactor of Democratic causes and candidates.

Judge H. James Ellis ordered Hsu handcuffed and jailed on $2-million bail, which he posted after about five hours behind bars.

Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he had defrauded investors of $1-million in a bogus investment scam. He was facing up to three years in prison, but he skipped out on a court appearance and was not seen until Friday.

From $62,000 for Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York, to $10,000 for the Tennessee Democratic Party, the full extent of fundraising by Hsu came into focus on Thursday, as campaigns across the country began returning his money in light of revelations that he was a fugitive in a fraud case.

Beyond the hundreds of thousands of dollars he raised from others for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Hsu personally contributed more than $600,000 to federal, state and municipal candidates in the last three years, a review of campaign finance records shows.

NEW YORK

Thompson episodes to air on TNT despite rule

While Fred Thompson's Law & Order character disappears from NBC today because of concerns over federal equal time provisions, cable viewers will still have plenty of opportunities to see his District Attorney Arthur Branch. TNT will air 23 episodes of the drama next week alone, apparently unworried about limiting Branch's airplay even as the Tennessee Republican plans to announce his presidential candidacy Thursday.

"TNT has no plans to alter its schedule," spokeswoman Shirley Powell said, a stance that could provoke a fight in the courts or before the Federal Communications Commission. Equal time rules require TV stations to provide the same airtime to opponents when a candidate appears on the air. The many exceptions - news shows, talk shows, interviews, documentaries - essentially mean the rules apply to entertainment programming.

[Last modified September 1, 2007, 01:14:17]