The case of Norman Hsu, the avid political donor now facing allegations of defrauding investors and breaking federal campaign-finance laws, has ties to the Silicon Valley tech scene. Like many venture capitalists and entrepreneurs here, Hsu craved influence and power that's hard to get this far from the office towers of Manhattan and the halls of the Capitol. In fact, Hsu introduced Hummer Winblad VC Mark Gorenberg to Barack Obama, the presidential candidate on whose finance committee Gorenberg now sits. (Luckily for Obama, Hsu later switched his allegiances to Hillary Clinton when she announce her presidential campaign.)

Venture capitalists love to tell you that one of their skills is evaluating and assembling teams, for which being a good judge of character is essential. So consider this quote from Gorenberg, after Hsu was taken into custody:

"Despite it all, I still love the guy. Despite everything you read, every experience I ever had with him was nothing but delightful, and I just scratch my head."

Hsu, it's now known, had a checkered history in business, at one point spending a couple of years abroad. The lure of inside-the-Beltway power is intoxicating, of course. Who'd bother with niceties like background checks when there are campaign checks to write?

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