GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—The mystery of how authorities identified a fugitive Democratic fundraiser when he was taken off an Amtrak train after falling ill apparently has been solved.
The Grand Junction Sentinel listened to 911 tapes that revealed that an officer recognized Norman Hsu’s name.
Hsu had fled California to avoid a hearing on a 1992 felony theft conviction. At some point he became ill and Amtrak officials called 911 in Grand Junction. Police did not go to the station, only an ambulance crew.
Soon after the crew dropped Hsu off at St. Mary’s Hospital, there was another conversation between a dispatcher and an officer.
“Officer: Hey, copy a name real quick, and I’ve got an NCIC (National Crime Information Center) hit on a guy that we’re trying to go snag up at St. Mary’s … There’s a huge warrant out of California for him. This apparently, this uh, he is the guy that’s a big, there’s, Fox News is talking about it. He’s, the, Hillary Clinton’s money-launderer, and he’s a fugitive, and somehow he got sick and he’s at St. Mary’s. It’s unconfirmed. That’s why we’re trying to get up there.
“Dispatcher: “Oh, cool!”
“Officer: “OK, and, uh, you’ll get the hit, just hang onto it and put it in our call.”
“Dispatch: “OK, I’ve got it here. So, do you need me to make you a call for St. Mary’s?”
“Officer: “Well, this is our special assignment.”
The FBI has declined to revealed who notified their San Francisco office, saying only that they got a tip.
Hsu, who has raised money for many Democrat heavyweights, including U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama, fled the country in 1992 after the conviction and returned 15 years later.
Hsu is in the Mesa County Jail, where he remains in lieu of $5 million bond, pending an extradition hearing on Wednesday. His lawyers have said that he was under an enormous strain.
