Yesterday Hassan Nemazee was sentenced to 12 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme some proceeds of which were funneled into Democratic campaigns. The New York financier was no stranger to liberal Democratic politics, having served as national finance chairman for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and New York state finance chairman for John Kerry's 2004 presidential run.
He also donated a generous $50,000 to President Obama's inaugural festivities.
Yet in reporting the development, both the Washington Post and the New York Times downplayed the story.
The Washington Post ran a five-paragraph AP squib in its page A3 digest headlined "Former Democratic fundraiser sentenced."
The New York Times not only buried the story deep in its July 16 edition on page A22, "Nemazee Gets 12 Years for Stealing $292 million," it failed to note that Nemazee served as a finance chairman on two Democratic presidential campaigns, painting him simply as a donor:
A Park Avenue financier and political donor who pleaded guilty to stealing $292 million from three banks in a Ponzi scheme was sentenced on Thursday to 12 years in prison.
The financier, Hassan Nemazee, who had donated to philanthropic causes and given money to Democrats like Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry, listened quietly as Judge Sidney H. Stein of Federal District Court in Manhattan admonished him.
