The spring before his wife began her White House campaign, former President Bill Clinton earned $700,000 for his foundation by selling stock that he had been given from an Internet search company that was co-founded by a convicted felon and backed by the Chinese government, public records show.

Mr. Clinton had gotten the nonpublicly traded stock from Accoona Corp. back in 2004 as a gift for giving a speech at a company event. He landed the windfall by selling the 200,000 shares to an undisclosed buyer in May 2006, commanding $3.50 a share at a time when the company was reporting millions of dollars of losses, according to interviews.

A spokesman for the William J. Clinton Foundation declined to identify the buyer who was willing to pay so much for a struggling company’s stock, saying only that the transaction was handled by a securities broker. It occurred seven months before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her bid to run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

The spokesman, Ben Yarrow, declined last week to say whether Mr. Clinton knew about the Chinese government’s connection to Accoona or the felony fraud conviction of one of the company’s founders.

"President Clinton gave a speech; he did not endorse a product," Mr. Yarrow said.

The $700,000 capital gains was listed on the tax returns of Mr. Clinton’s foundation that were reviewed by The Washington Times.

The lack of disclosure about the buyer and the general activities of former presidents’ foundations troubles some ethics experts.

Sheila Krumholz, executive director for the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which studies political money and ethics, said even though the law doesn’t require former presidents to disclose donations and stock transactions to their foundations, they should do so to avoid the appearance that money was buying special access.

"We’re in a unique period where the wife of a former president is running for the job of the son of a former president," she said, referring to Mrs. Clinton and the current President Bush.

Accoona offered its own Internet search engine as a rival to giants Google and Yahoo, and Mr. Clinton was the keynote speaker at the company’s Dec. 6, 2004, launch in New York. He even joked about the price of the stock that he was given that day as compensation for his speech.

"So I hope you get a big run-up in your stock price, I hope you have a great time doing it, but remember you’re doing something profoundly good for humanity and the future as you do," Mr. Clinton told Accoona executives.

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Top Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu will rely on a court-appointed lawyer to defend him against charges that he cheated investors out of millions of dollars and made illegal donations to politicians, including presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz appointed Hugh M. Mundy on Thursday to represent Hsu as the 56-year-old clothing-industry entrepreneur made his first appearance in the Manhattan court.

Hsu pleaded not guilty to charges that he violated federal campaign finance laws.

After the brief court appearance, Mundy told The Associated Press that his client had no choice but to rely on a court-appointed lawyer.

"He’s essentially a man with no income or assets. He has no money he can tap," said Mundy. "His money and assets are alleged to be involved in the charges. He has no access to the money presently."

Mundy said it was his first day on the case and he did not know how much money was in his client’s bank accounts.

The government has said Hsu believed large campaign contributions would attract money to his financial scheme by raising his public profile. Toward that goal, prosecutors said, Hsu pressured many fraud victims to contribute thousands of dollars to candidates.

According to the indictment, Hsu persuaded his victims to invest at least $60 million from 2000 through August 2007 in companies that supposedly extended short-term financing to businesses. It said he used the money instead to further his fraudulent goals. The government said he lost at least $20 million of the investor money.

Once a prized supporter of Clinton, Hsu raised more than $1.2 million for her and other Democratic candidates in recent years. Her campaign has since returned more than $800,000 to donors whose contributions were linked to him.

He became a liability to the campaign when it was revealed he had been wanted in California since 1992, when he fled after pleading no contest to grand theft charges related to a fraudulent clothing import business.

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A campaign memo by Joe Erwin, former South Carolina Democrat Party chair and current Obama supporter, has come up with the most perfectly apposite one-line summation of the Clintons I have ever seen in print.

To assess the resonance of that opening sentence, let me offer the estimate that I have read the equivalent of three truckloads of articles about the Clintons over the years, pro and con.  Well, mostly con.  Although they are pro con men.  (Con people?)

Yes, it’s true.  After nearly two decades of conservative writers spluttering and sputtering, hyperventilating and gesticulating, gnashing their teeth and pulling their hair, seeking the mot juste to encapsulate the smarminess, the tackiness, the sleaziness, the ickiness, the scabby, weasely, hokey corruption that is the Clinton legacy, one Democrat political operative in South Carolina has scooped them all by getting it just right.  Quoth Erwin (what relation to the late Senator Sam?): “There is an old South Carolina saying that goes like this – some people would rather climb a tree to tell a fib than stand on the ground and tell the truth.”

Wow!  Shazzam!  Exactly right.

The thing that has offended decent people most about the Clintons is not so much the act of lying, a sin engaged in to one degree or another by most politicians, but the blithe disregard of truth as a standard for human communication.  They lie not only for political gain, not only for personal gain, but for the sheer pleasure of controlling the version of their reality that is etched into the public consciousness.

None of this means that it would be politically expedient for my agenda were Hillary to lose the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama.  On the contrary, Obama is an immensely likeable young man who strikes me as a more formidable foe for the Republicans than old retread Hillary Clinton.  He brings the sort of freshness to the table that virtually no Republican in national politics can match.  The closest example on the right would be freshman Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal. 

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Disgraced political donor Norman Hsu was sentenced Friday to three years in prison after a judge refused to throw out his 1992 no-contest plea to fraud.

Hsu’s lawyers had asked Judge Stephen Hall to dismiss his 16-year-old plea, arguing that Hsu’s right to speedy justice was violated because authorities were not actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive. They could easily have arrested Hsu, his lawyers argued, at one of the fundraisers he hosted in California for prominent local politicians.

Hsu also faces federal fraud charges in New York.

His troubles began dogging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other big-name Democrats last summer when news reports revealed he was a fugitive who fled the state before he was sentenced for the 1992 fraud conviction for scamming investors out of $1 million.

He turned himself in on Aug. 31, posted $2 million in bail, then fled again, skipping a scheduled court appearance.

He was recaptured in September in Colorado after he tried to kill himself by overdosing on drugs aboard an eastbound Amtrak train. Hsu has since been held without bail in a Redwood City jail.

Hsu lawyer James Brosnahan said his client will appeal the sentence as well as the judge’s refusal to toss out the case.

Public records show Hsu lavished millions in campaign contributions on a host of candidates since 2003. He also attended many well-publicized fundraisers, including several in Northern California.

Hall also refused to let Hsu withdraw his no-contest plea because his "failure to appear was completely within his control," and ordered half of the $2 million Hsu posted as bail be turned over to federal authorities for possible victim restitution there. The other half will be used to reimburse the victims of Hsu’s first scam.

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Several months ago, Hillary Clinton’s campaign website ran a banner story called, “The Top 10 Reasons to Support Hillary for President and Help Make History.” That list is now gone from the site, undoubtedly because her own team is having a hard time scraping up one reason to support her.

In honor of their delightful love of listmaking, I offer the Clinton Ladies Intervention Team a substitute list, one that I hope will bring them hope in this joyous season.

The Top Ten Reasons Why the Media Want a Third Clinton Co-Presidency:

1. Norman Hsu-Gate. This is a wonderful catch-all category for the illegal or unethical fundraising done by the Clinton campaign over the past year (please note this only applies to Hillary’s fundraising irregularities and not the phone-book-sized dossier of improper fundraising done during their first co-presidency.) Mr. Hsu, a businessman who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the campaign before it was revealed he’d been charged in California with fraud, has been accused of illegally bundling donations to her to get around campaign finance rules. In totally predictable fashion for a Clintonista, he went on the lam, eventually having a nervous breakdown and was then arrested. In addition, a December 15 fundraising event for Hillary at the home of Mississippi trial lawyer Richard Scruggs was called off, after Scruggs was indicted twp weeks ago for bribery. And the money keeps rollin’ in from every side.

2. Green Paint-Gate. Related to Norman Hsu-Gate, but with its own distinct characteristics. The Paw family’s address is a tiny house in California with peeling green paint and an overgrown lawn. It looks like a crack den, but somehow they managed to come up with $45,000 for Hillary’s campaign. This amazing feat of financial wizardry was repeated many times throughout New York City’s Chinatown, with dishwashers and seamstresses donating tens of thousands of their hard-earned dollars to support Hillary. They must have taken her advice and played the cattle futures by reading the Wall Street Journal.

3. Alcee Hastings-Gate. Pop quiz: How many presidential candidates have made the head of their Florida campaign a judge who was impeached for corruption? Answer: None of them, except Hillary Clinton.

4. Iraq-Gate. Former president Bill Clinton had a sudden lapse of memory about his past position on Iraq. He’d supported the invasion in 2003 and the removal of Saddam Hussein — as president, he’d signed the Iraq Liberation Act. But three weeks ago, he skated right past the truth and said he was opposed to Iraq “from the beginning.” I guess he thinks he’s invisible to YouTube.

5. The Estrogen Card-Gate. Vote for me because I’m a woman! But don’t pick on me because I’m a delicate flower that can’t handle it! But I can handle it because I’m experienced! But I can’t handle it because I’m a woman! Which brings us back to why you should vote for me! But don’t pile on me!

6. “Yes/No”-Gate. “Senator Clinton, are you for a withdrawal from Iraq?” “Yes/No! I’ve moved on!” “Senator Clinton, are you for driver’s licenses for illegals?” “Yes/No! I’ve moved on!” “Senator Clinton, are you still taking money from shady characters?”
“Yes/No! I’ve moved on!” “Senator, did you know that your brothers were selling pardons out of the back door of the White House?” “Yes/No! I’ve moved on!”

7. Vin Gupta-Gate. He’s Hillary’s buddy, whose company, InfoUSA, is under investigation for many things, including selling the names of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients to sleazeballs so they could clean out their bank accounts. Meanwhile, Gupta was flying Hillary around America on his private jet.

8. Sandy Berger-Gate. Convicted liar, thief, and obstructer of justice joined Hillary’s Team as an informal foreign policy adviser (because he was such an inspired choice as their National Security Adviser.) Are those top secret documents in your pants or are you just happy to see me?

9. Playboy-Gate. A few months ago, Bill Clinton was photographed with his “bosom buddies:” Los Angeles billionaires and fellow swingers, Ron Burkle and Steve Bing. They were in the City of Love, Paris, whooping it up during a “boys’ trip.” It doesn’t get better than Bill on the loose with a refill for Viagra.

10. Bill-Gate. Melting down on Charlie Rose. Trying to out-Oprah Oprah. Schlepping through the snows of Iowa in a $6000 bespoke suit. Screaming at her that he’s giving up his “play date” with Burkle and Bing for a losing campaign. Taking over the reins like we always knew he would, destroying any pretense that she’s running “on her own.”

For all of these reasons (and myriad more!), the media want to see a third Clinton co-presidency. They can’t imagine anything more horrible than a Romney presidency. A Mormon? Boring!

The media cannot spend four years — forget about eight! — covering a dull guy. It would be like covering Dwight Eisenhower. They’ll curl up and die with a president who never has any scandal, doesn’t chase skirts, doesn’t eat meat, and raises money legally. The media need the Clintons. They need the outrageousness. Scandal sells. And nobody does scandal like the Clintons.

Source: Human Events

Electorates are generally known for having short memories. Unfortunately this kind of memory loss can be hazardous to the body politic and a nation’s economic welfare. This is why electorates need to be periodically reminded of the misdeeds and inordinate ambitions of those who lust for power. In a country that had an honest media this job could be safely left to crusading journalists. Unfortunately the American media are so thoroughly corrupt and politically bigoted that they have become a significant threat to America’s national security and the democratic process. In short, they have joined America’s enemies.

Let us now uncover some of the Clinton’s putrescent actions, things the media strove to permanently bury in case the American people voted in their ignorance for a Republican. And that is precisely what they did — confirming the media’s belief that the public cannot be trusted to make the right decisions.

Hillary Clinton is the woman who condemned the NYPD; who stood aside while her race-baiting anti-Semitic buddies demonised the men and women in blue and smeared Giuliani by comparing him to Adolf Hitler; the woman who made, as the instinctive collectivist that she is, the arrogant assertion that “it takes a village [meaning the state] to raise a child”. The woman who revealed her authoritarian nature and contempt for the rule of law by jumping out of her box to support hubby’s jackbooted abduction of Elian Gonzalez. This is the same woman who wrote:

The pretense that children’s issues are somehow above or beyond politics endures and is reinforced by the belief that families are private, nonpolitical units whose interests subsume those of children.

Unless, of course, the drug-running Fidel Castro says otherwise.

The woman who argued that little children should be allowed to sue their parents rationalised an assault by a heavily armed swat team on a defenceless American family, and all without due process. But since when did legal trifles like the Constitution bother a I-feel-your-pain Clinton? That Rudy came out fighting for Elian and demanding hearings into the latest Clinton outrage is no surprise considering Hillary was running against him. Nevertheless, I never doubt Rudy’s sincerity in this matter. He recognised, as did so many other thoughtful Americans, the terrible violence this raid did to the rule of law and the 4th amendment. Hillary and Bill, however, see amendments like promises and eggs — something to be broken.

Lacking any sense of shame or respect for the truth, Hillary had the gall to accuse Giuliani of politicising Elian’s situation, piously declaring to adoring journalists that the case should be dealt with in court. Quite so. But this is what Bill Clinton, Reno and Castro tried to prevent. It was Clinton, not Reno, who politicised the issue by turning it into a federal case. It was Reno, on Clinton’s instructions, who denied Elian due process. It was Clinton and Reno (and let’s not forget Castro) who mocked the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. It was Clinton’s appointee to the head of the INS, Doris Meissner, who instructed that a search warrant be fraudulently obtained. And Hillary Rodham Clinton, or whatever she called her self in those days, had the chutzpah to accuse Rudy of playing politics with Elian.

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Dec. 8, 1998: WND first reported that Motorola employee and former Clinton national security adviser Richard Barth obtained the export waiver for advanced encrypted radios sent to the Chinese police – over the objections of the State Department.

Motorola, antsy over recent British approval to sell high-tech communications equipment to the People’s Armed Police, received backing from President Clinton for sales of its own equipment to Beijing, but officials at the State Department, concerned over numerous human rights problems, "hadn’t gotten the memo" and refused to issue a waiver.

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Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu reveled in his role as friend to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

As Hsu raised more than $800,000 for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign, the couple praised him at star-studded events and showered him with thank-you notes. Hsu often wore a bomber jacket that bore the presidential seal, a gift from the former president, he told associates.

But Hsu’s turn in the political limelight was about more than ego gratification.

Documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times show how Hsu’s business associates traded on his connections — going so far as to claim that former President Clinton was a Hsu client — to lure investors into a scheme that took in tens of millions of dollars nationwide.

A marketing brochure distributed by an Orange County firm to attract investors to Hsu’s business claimed the 56-year-old Hong Kong native’s "extensive political investment community includes former President Bill Clinton, who continues to invest to this day."

Howard Wolfson, a Clinton spokesman, denied that the former president had invested with Hsu. And Sen. Clinton’s financial disclosure statements show no investments or income from Hsu for her or her husband.

Still, as a marketing tactic, the claim may have worked all too well: A Southern California couple recently filed a lawsuit saying they lost more than $3 million in a Hsu-run Ponzi scheme — based in part on the brochure’s promises.

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