CO Rep. Mark Udall Donates Hsu Contribution To The Colorado National Guard

In order to thwart attempts to say "gotcha" by his opponents, Rep. Mark Udall dumped the $1000 contribution made by fugitive fundraiser and Hillary Clinton backer Norman Hsu (h/t PPH), donating it to the Colorado National Guard Foundation:

Congressman Mark Udall's U.S. Senate campaign committee is among dozens of mostly Democratic political organizations to have received a large financial contribution from a New York fundraiser who has been wanted by authorities in California.

Federal Election Commission records indicate that Norman Hsu, listed as a resident of New York, gave $1,000 to "Udall for Colorado Inc." on June 25.

Hsu has a lengthy record of gathering large contributions for prominent Democratic campaigns, including those of presidential hopefuls Sen. Hillary Clinton, of New York, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. FEC records show that since 1999, Hsu has contributed more than $200,000 to political committees.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that Hsu in 1991 accepted a deal with California prosecutors that was supposed to have sent him to jail for three years for allegedly scamming investors out of $1 million related to a plan to resell latex gloves.

Hsu, however, disappeared after the sentencing and never reported to jail, the paper reported.

"The issue has just been brought to our attention," Udall campaign manager Mike Melanson said Wednesday evening.

He said that once a campaign attorney confirmed that Hsu was listed by authorities as a fugitive from justice, Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, ordered that the money he gave the campaign be given to charity. He said $1,000 will be donated today to the Colorado National Guard Foundation.

Melanson said "it's just been Mark's policy" not to accept campaign contributions from convicted criminals that campaign officials become aware of. The campaign does not, however, have the resources to conduct criminal background checks on every person who contributes money, he said.

With all the concentration on candidate's donors these days, Udall (and all candidates for that matter) might want to invest a little in investigating their donations, especially from larger donors, lest they be "tainted" by "dirty money" from wealthy donors.