Rendell backer Hsu goes missing

Disgraced Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu, who was wanted by California authorities for the last 15 years, is once again on the lam, putting Gov. Rendell, a staunch supporter, in an increasingly awkward political corner.

And for now, Rendell isn't saying whether he will reverse his decision and return nearly $38,000 in contributions from Hsu or continue to stand by the man he recently called "one of the best 10 people I've met."

Press secretary Chuck Ardo said the governor had no immediate comment on Hsu's disappearance.

"The governor will respond to today's events after having time to review them," Ardo said, adding only that Rendell likely would address the matter sometime today.

Hsu, who had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for top Democratic candidates nationwide, including presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, failed to appear yesterday morning at a bail-reduction hearing in a California courtroom.

San Mateo Superior Court Judge Robert Foiles ordered Hsu's $2 million bail forfeited and issued a new arrest warrant. If Hsu is arrested again, he will be jailed without bail.

Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he had defrauded investors of $1 million after falsely claiming to have contracts to purchase and sell latex gloves. He was facing up to three years in prison when he skipped town before his 1992 sentencing date.

For the time being, Rendell remains one of the few politicians across the nation who have decided to keep campaign contributions from Hsu.

Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island - who, like Rendell, initially said he would keep the contributions - changed his mind and said he would give the $6,200 to charity. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) announced a similar plan yesterday - to donate the $2,000 he received from Hsu to the Committee to Aid Abused Women, a Reno-based group.

Rendell, who received $37,866 from Hsu during 2005 and 2006, came under even more pressure yesterday to disavow the money.

State Rep. Sam Smith (R., Jefferson), the top Republican in the House, called on the governor to use the contributions to reimburse those defrauded by Hsu's Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s.

"The governor's misplaced stubbornness does little to bring back the confidence of Pennsylvania's citizens in their government and of their elected leader," said Smith. Now, with Hsu a fugitive once more, "there can be no excuse," he added.

In interviews over two days last week, Rendell said that he would not return the money unless Hsu's fraud conviction were upheld.

"I want to hear him out; I don't want to be one of the guys to pile on," Rendell said last Thursday. "Norman Hsu's one of the best 10 people I've met. He raised money for me because he believes in all the things we're doing and he never asked for a bloody thing - not a job, not a contract, not to attend a wedding."

The next day, the governor said: "I think this whole thing stinks. If this conviction stands I will give the money back, but this idea of making him out to be some sort of major criminal is absurd."

Also in that interview, Rendell said he had spoken with Hsu two days earlier - at a time he was still considered a fugitive. Rendell said Hsu "apologized for any embarrassment he caused me. I said, 'Norman, you didn't cause me embarrassment. . . . I wish you the best of luck.' "

Hsu, a Hong Kong native, was also supposed to turn over his passport yesterday. Jim Brosnahan, his prominent Silicon Valley criminal defense attorney, said Hsu failed to give the passport to the legal team on Monday.

"Mr. Hsu is not here and we do not know where Mr. Hsu is," Brosnahan said outside court. Brosnahan said that "there was some contact" with Hsu a few hours before the scheduled 9 a.m. court appearance, but he declined to say how and who talked to Hsu.

After Hsu's conviction in the early 1990s, prosecutors said they suspected he fled the country then. A few years ago, Hsu reemerged in New York as an apparel executive and a wealthy benefactor of Democratic causes and candidates.