The Missouri Democrat said she made the decision over the weekend, as the cloud of suspicion has grown surrounding contributions from donors connected to Hsu.

McCaskill took no money directly from Hsu, but her staff has estimated that the senator received more than $18,000 from people reportedly associated with Hsu, including the family of William Paw of Daly City, Calif.

On Friday, McCaskill said she had no plans to return the money from Hsu-related donors because there was no evidence they had done anything wrong. But she pledged to give up any campaign money if it was discovered to be from illegal sources or from people accused of crimes.

The Missouri Ethics Commission voted unanimously today to tell candidates who had collected campaign contributions larger than the now-restored donation limits that they "may be in violation" of state law.

However, the six-member panel stopped short of ordering candidates to return their over-limit contributions, which in some cases amount to millions of dollars.

Instead, the commission said it plans to hold hearings for each candidate who seeks to keep his or her over-limit money by contending that giving it back would constitute an unfair hardship.

Labels: Campaign_Finance

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