A former Republican California congressman who was pardoned by former President Donald Trump agreed to pay a campaign finance fee to the Federal Election Commission over the alleged misuse of campaign funds.
Duncan Hunter and his wife and former campaign manager Margaret Hunter agreed to pay $12,000, according to a conciliation agreement released this week by the FEC. Hunter’s campaign committee agreed to pay a separate $4,000 fee. The Hunters did not admit liability in their settlement.
Trump’s pardon only worked for the criminal convictions and not the civil cases, four lawyers for the FEC maintained.
“Even if the president has the authority to pardon civil offenses … it does not appear that it was President Trump’s intent to pardon civil liability in this instance,” the four lawyers told the Times of San Diego. “The President limited the text of the Hunters’ pardons specifically to the criminal matter.”
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In 2018, Hunter and his wife were accused of stealing over $250,000 from their campaign to fund vacations to Hawaii and Italy, plane tickets for family members and a pet rabbit, and $1,500 toward video games, with additional funds used on romantic flings, NBC News reported. However, Hunter said many of the personal disbursements were repaid.
Hunter pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds in 2019, and his wife pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misuse campaign funds. Hunter then resigned from the House of Representatives, where he served as a congressman for over a decade. He was sentenced to 11 months in prison. However, Trump pardoned both Hunter and his wife for their criminal convictions toward the end of his presidency in 2020.
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The FEC said it accepted a lower fine from the campaign due to it having only $14,000 cash on hand despite owing $40,000, according to a quarterly report from last October. The typical fine would be $133,000, the FEC said.
