It seems U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has run into some problems with campaign contributions he received from people linked to Norman Hsu, who is responsible for raising nearly $1.6 million in donations for Democrats since 2004. This is according to a story in the Billings Gazette, “Tester awaits ruling on donation” that appeared on Saturday.

One interesting thing I noticed when reading this story was there were no “anonymous sources” or “sources close to the investigation” or even “an unnamed source” in the whole darn story. Maybe the reporter only uses these types of sources when it’s a Republican?

But, let’s get back to Tester’s dilemma. He says he’s keeping the $3,750 he received (unless it’s found to have been made illegally). During his 2006 campaign, I remember Tester on his website proclaiming his views on ethics: “Jon Tester won’t just pass a law; he’ll set an example…” Then we have this promise on Campaign Finance: “Jon Tester believes that money has far too much influence in government today and will fight to reform campaign laws.”

The question now is: Is this attention worth just $3,750?

Although Tester’s donations only came from peopled linked to Norman Hsu, it is important to know who exactly is this fundraising juggernaut for the democrats, Mr. Norman Hsu? He is accused of having defrauded millions of dollars from investors. He failed to appear in San Mateo County Superior Court on Wednesday for proceedings on a 15-year-old grand theft conviction in an investment fraud case. He ran from authorities and ended up in Colorado in a hospital and was promptly arrested by the FBI on a federal charge of unlawful interstate flight to avoid prosecution. I think this story is a long ways from over.

Sounds a lot like Hsu’s the democratic version of Jack Abramoff, huh?

If you remember back, Baucus, Burns and Rehberg all quickly returned their donations that were linked to Abramoff and his associates. All of those donations were legally given, too, and I might point out that nobody in the Montana delegation was ever charged, convicted or did time for any crime because of their association with Abramoff or his people.

Anytime there’s a hint of problems with any donations, they should be returned. It will make the road ahead less bumpy.