Clinton Hints Donors May Give Again

Norman Hsu prepares to surrender as he arrives at a San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City, Calif., in this Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 file photo. Hsu was a wanted man again after he failed to show up for a court date Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007 and a judge issued a new warrant for his arrest. Hsu, whose criminal past has roiled the campaigns of top presidential candidates, was scheduled to ask a judge to cut in half the $2 million bail he posted last week when he turned himself in after spending 15 years on the lam from a felony theft conviction. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file) (Paul Sakuma - AP)

That fundraiser comes on the heels of a gala party thrown by Oprah Winfrey for Barack Obama that raised about $3 million.

Asked how Obama's presence in the race has affected fundraising, Latham, who is black, said, "My conversations are longer."

"African Americans are very proud of the fact that they have a legitimate candidate running for office who has a legitimate chance," he said. "But there is every indication to me that the person best qualified to represent our nation, our world and the African American community is Hillary Clinton."

Hsu had been scheduled to appear in court last week to turn over his passport and discuss reducing the $2 million bail he posted related to a 15-year-old arrest warrant. Instead, he left town and a judge issued a new arrest warrant for him.

According to court documents, a tipster on Sept. 6 told the FBI in San Francisco that Hsu was in the emergency room at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.

He was arrested last Thursday at the hospital after he was taken from an eastbound Amtrak train for treatment of an undisclosed ailment.

A spokesman for Hsu said he had not spoken with him.

Hsu raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democratic candidates and groups until his 1992 theft conviction, for which he pleaded no contest, became known. Many of those candidates, including Clinton, have announced plans to return or donate to charity Hsu's election contributions.

Hsu had spent 15 years on the lam, until he surrendered to authorities in California on Aug. 31.

Prosecutors say Hsu bilked investors out of $1 million by telling them he had a contract to buy and sell latex gloves, but he never purchased the gloves and had no contract to sell them.

Hsu has said he believed he had resolved his legal issues, but that he would halt his work raising political money.

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Associated Press writer Paul Elias in San Francisco contributed to this report.