Senator Hints Hsu-Linked Donors May Give Again

WASHINGTON — Senator Clinton — whose campaign is returning $850,000 in contributions linked to a disgraced fund-raiser, Norman Hsu — indicated yesterday that donors who contributed that money could donate to her presidential campaign once again.

"We're not asking that that be done," she said in a teleconference with reporters. "But I believe that the vast majority of those 200-plus donors are perfectly capable of making up their own minds about what they will or won't do going forward."

Mrs. Clinton's remarks were her first public comments on the affect Hsu's fortunes have had on her campaign. Hsu was a leading money "bundler" for Mrs. Clinton, earning the title of HillRaiser for his fund-raising activities.

Mrs. Clinton's campaign said this week that any donors whose money was returned could donate once again if they confirm to the campaign that the contributions are from their own personal funds.

Hsu is under guard in a Colorado hospital after failing to show up for a bail hearing last week in California. He had been wanted as a fugitive for missing his sentencing on a 1991 grand theft case to which he had pleaded no contest.