Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Feds: Rep. Duncan Hunter Paid for Affairs With Campaign Cash
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
June 26, 2019

Share

LOS ANGELES — U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California illegally used campaign money to finance romantic flings with lobbyists and congressional aides, spending thousands of dollars on meals, cocktails and vacations, federal prosecutors say.

A government court filing late Monday detailed allegations about the married Republican congressman’s affairs with five women following an indictment last year charging Hunter and his wife with misspending more than $200,000 in campaign funds on trips and other personal expenses.
A government court filing late Monday detailed allegations about the married Republican congressman’s affairs with five women following an indictment last year charging Hunter and his wife with misspending more than $200,000 in campaign funds on trips and other personal expenses.
Margaret Hunter, who served as the six-term congressman’s campaign chairwoman, pleaded guilty this month to one count of corruption and agreed to testify against her husband.
In the new motion, prosecutors reconstructed Rep. Hunter’s alleged clandestine lifestyle, providing times when he arrived for and left liaisons and listing a range of expenses he represented as campaign-related activity, such as paying for dates with a woman who had become his lover shortly after she started working in his office.
He used his campaign treasury for even seemingly incidental purchases — a $7 beer at a hotel bar while on a ski trip with one of the women, and an Uber ride after a liaison with another lobbyist in October 2015.
Hunter has said he is the target of politically motivated prosecutors. His lawyer, Gregory Vega, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the filing.

Hunter Tapped Campaign Funds Because He Had No Other Money

It came the same day Vega filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, arguing that the search and seizure of Hunter’s congressional records was unconstitutional.
Vega wrote that the Constitution does not put members of Congress above the law but does “protect them from prosecution for their legislative activities and from having to disclose legislative records, absent their consent.”
Prosecutors said the “sequence of romantic liaisons is so far removed from any legitimate campaign or congressional activity as to rebut any argument that Hunter believed these were proper uses of campaign funds.”
“It’s a very solid case that got much stronger” once his wife pleaded guilty and agreed to testify, said former federal prosecutor Jason A. Forge, who prosecuted California Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who served more than seven years in prison in a bribery scandal.
In an interview with Fox News last year, Hunter said his campaign made mistakes, that he gave his wife power of attorney when he deployed as a Marine to Iraq in 2003 and that she handled his finances during his last five terms in office.
The government’s filing suggested that Hunter tapped into campaign funds because he had no other money to finance his romantic relationships. During a weekend ski trip with a lobbyist, his personal bank account had a negative balance and he had been hit with $33 fees six times for overdrawing the account, prosecutors said.

A Closer Look at Hunter’s Alleged Relationships

The filing provided a look into a string of his alleged relationships and an accounting of campaign funds that were spent:
— Sometime after April 2009, Hunter became romantically involved with a lobbyist and began staying at her home while occasionally spending campaign funds on food and beverages, prosecutors said.
— In January 2010, Hunter flew to Reno, Nevada, ostensibly to attend a convention for a nonprofit group. After a brief stop at the convention, Hunter and a lobbyist headed for a ski resort near Lake Tahoe, where they spent the weekend skiing and ordering room service, according to the filing. Prosecutors said Hunter used campaign funds to rent a car, pay the hotel tab and fly back to Washington.
— In August 2012, while attending the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, Hunter began a romantic relationship with a woman who worked for a member of the House leadership. Hunter later began staying at her home “nearly every night,” prosecutors said. He used campaign funds for cocktails and Uber rides.
— On Sept. 14, 2016, Hunter and another lobbyist engaged in “intimate personal activities unrelated to Hunter’s campaign,” prosecutors said. He used campaign funds to pay for an Uber to return to his office the next morning.

DON'T MISS

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

DON'T MISS

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

DON'T MISS

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

DON'T MISS

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

DON'T MISS

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

DON'T MISS

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

DON'T MISS

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

DON'T MISS

Fresno Murder Suspect Stopped in Las Vegas, Others Wanted

DON'T MISS

Trump’s Crowds Are Dwindling as His Campaign Winds Down

UP NEXT

Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on Mexico to Curb Immigration

UP NEXT

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

UP NEXT

Immediate Threat: Mussel Invades California’s Delta, First Time in North America

UP NEXT

Lyft Pays $2.1 Million to Settle Case Alleging the Ride-Hailing Service Deceived Drivers

UP NEXT

Southern California County Official Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charge in COVID Funds Scheme

UP NEXT

Visalia Rollerblader Suffered Major Injuries After Being Struck by Vehicle

UP NEXT

Fresno County Man Indicted for Possessing Stolen Guns

UP NEXT

Anti-Semitic Incident at Oakland Cafe Raises Concerns About Rising Intolerance

UP NEXT

Schwarzenegger Endorses Harris, Warns Against Another Trump Term

UP NEXT

Will Noncitizens Be Able to Vote? This California City Will Decide Their Fate

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

2 hours ago

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

2 hours ago

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

3 hours ago

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

3 hours ago

Fresno Murder Suspect Stopped in Las Vegas, Others Wanted

3 hours ago

Trump’s Crowds Are Dwindling as His Campaign Winds Down

4 hours ago

Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on Mexico to Curb Immigration

4 hours ago

Music Legend Quincy Jones, Architect of Pop’s Greatest Hits, Dies at 91

4 hours ago

Big Pharma Backs Harris 6-to-1 Over Trump in Presidential Campaign Contributions

5 hours ago

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

The 1.4 million acres of Sierra National Forest land proposed for a national monument would make the land between Yosemite and Sequoia natio...

8 mins ago

8 mins ago

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP/Ashley Landis)
2 hours ago

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

Voters cast their ballots at Desert Breeze Community Center in Las Vegas during the last day of in-person early voting in Nevada on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. Nearly 75 million people have cast early ballots, making their voices heard amid worry about the process, the outcome and democracy itself. (Bridget Bennett/The New York Times)
2 hours ago

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

2 hours ago

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

2 hours ago

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

3 hours ago

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

3 hours ago

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

Gerrick Franklin (pictured), 34, was taken into custody Sunday in Madera County on suspicion of killing Tyler Hamon, 33. (Fresno PD)
3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

Search

Send this to a friend