Hillary Rodham Clinton gushed to disgraced Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu that he would “single-handedly” help her win the presidency because nobody “has been more loyal and been more effective” in landing donations.
“Norman, it’s Hillary! What am I going to do with you, Norman? You’re working so hard for me that I, I just don’t even know what to say anymore,” fawned then-Sen. Clinton in a taped voice message to Hsu, who — unbeknownst to her — was illegally funneling thousands into her war chest.
“I’ve never seen anybody who has been more loyal and been more effective and really just having greater success supporting someone than you,” said Clinton on the embarrassing tape — played during the kickoff of Hsu’s campaign-finance fraud trial yesterday in Manhattan federal court.
“Everywhere I go, you’re there. If you’re not, you’re sending people to be part of my events.
“You know, we’re going to win this campaign, Norman, because you single-handedly are going to make that happen.
“I hope to see you again soon,” Clinton purred. “Take care, my friend. Get some sleep, slow down for a few minutes. We’re going to get to the end of the first quarter, and then we can all take a little rest. “Lots of love. Bye, bye.”
After Hsu’s illegal antics came to light, the red-faced Clinton campaign returned $850,000 in donations he had steered her way.
Hsu, 58, is accused of skirting federal limits on individual political contributions to boost his political clout, ego — and ultimately his own bank account.
The name-dropping scammer convinced at least one unsuspecting pal to act as the go-between for him to make illicit donations, prosecutors charge.
Hsu got his money from a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme to which he pleaded guilty last week.
TV soap actress Suzanne Raffaelli of The Bronx wept as she identified Hsu before testifying under immunity yesterday. “He was a nice, kind, loyal person . . . He always remembered my birthday,” sniffled Raffaelli, who once portrayed Erin on “Another World.”
Raffaelli said she made 50 contributions totaling $91,300 to dozens of politicians on her old friend’s behalf.
Hsu’s lawyer, Alan Seidler, called the investors “greedy and, frankly, dumb.”
But one of them, health-care consultant Nicole Chorvat, got her revenge on the stand.
Chorvat detailed how, at first, Hsu came off as a charming garment-industry magnate and financier.
“I met President Obama, Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton” and other celebrities through Hsu, she said, and “they always praised him.”
But Chorvat said she eventually learned that she had been duped and lost thousands because of it.