Thursday, September 13, 2007

Democratic Fundraiser Norman Hsu Mailed Suicide Note Last Week, Source Says


NEW YORK — The saga of the scandal-plagued Democratic fundraiser with ties to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton took another strange twist after he mailed a suicide note last week to a legal organization.

A person who saw the letter said Thursday that the note from Norman Hsu explicitly stated that he "intended to commit suicide." The person declined to reveal the exact phrasing, but said it was not rambling in nature.

The individual spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

The letter arrived at the New York offices of the Innocence Project as Hsu was in the midst of a bizarre legal odyssey stemming from a 1991 grand theft case. Hsu has been wanted as a fugitive for missing his sentencing in the case. He failed to show up for a bail hearing last week in California and was arrested at a Colorado hospital after being taken off an Amtrak train.

Hsu was a leading money "bundler" for Clinton, earning the title of HillRaiser for his efforts. Her campaign is returning $850,000 in contributions linked to Hsu.

The letter was one page, typewritten and signed by Hsu. It was sent overnight delivery.

Clinton campaign staffers were reported to be the first to notice that both the paper used to write the note, and the font itself, were somewhat unusual ones and proprietary to their office, but were unavailable for comment. An unnamed source related to various reporters that they not only were no longer in the Clinton employ, but had been missing for the past several days.

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