The 47-page indictment of Representative Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and his wife Margaret is a laundry list of campaign fund abuses that reads like a poorly planned get rich quick scheme.
The indictment leaves the impression that the stereotype of the greedy and corrupt politician might actually be personified in the Hunters.
As outlined in the indictment, federal prosecutors allege that together, the Hunters used about $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses, even though federal campaign law mandates that campaign money be used only for campaign expenses.
The indictment, however, is worse than a family living beyond its means on ill-gotten funds. The specific instances make clear that the Hunters not only sought to enrich themselves, but reprehensibly tried cover up their spending by listing personal expenditures as charitable contributions to veterans’ groups, the Boys and Girls club of San Diego, and Smiles for Life.
It is also remarkable for the callousness of the Hunters as they went about purchasing expensive vacations, meals, video games, groceries, and paying off family bills with the campaign credit card.
Here’s one incident highlighted in the indictment: “When Duncan Hunter told Margaret Hunter that he was planning “to buy my Hawaii shorts” but had run out of money, she counseled him to buy the shorts at a golf pro shop so that they could falsely describe the purchase later as “some [golf] balls for the wounded warriors.” In another similar incident, Margaret Hunter used campaign funds to purchase running shoes and other items at a sporting goods store and then told the campaign treasurer that that expenditure was instead for an event for wounded warriors.
Yep, they used campaign money to pay for vacation clothing and then tried to write it off as a donation to veterans. This is especially galling as Duncan Hunter is himself a veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Even worse, the Hunters used campaign funds to pay for a family trip to Italy. To justify the expense, Duncan Hunter “attempted to set up a day tour of a U.S. naval facility in Italy.” When the Navy said that they could not accommodate him, Duncan Hunter “subsequently told his chief of staff, ‘tell the Navy to go fuck themselves.’” Adding insult to injury, Margaret Hunter later wrote in an email to a friend that the Italy trip was “Truly our best family trip so far. Like that saying, ‘if traveling was free you’d never see me again’!”
In another instance, Margaret Hunter told the campaign Treasurer to list a $700 expenditure of at a local dentist as a charitable contribution for Smiles for Life. Really, that payment had gone to pay part of the family’s own outstanding balance.
The list goes on and on: campaign money totaling more than $6,000 went to tuition payments for their children but were listed as charitable contributions, cosmetics for personal use were written off as items for charity gift baskets, family dinners listed as meals with supporters, $1,500 in video game charges, trips and airline tickets purchased for family and friends and even a $600 expense to fly a pet all came out of campaign funds.
At one point, Duncan Hunter even hired his wife, Margaret Hunter, as his “campaign manager” at a salary of $2,000 per month — despite objections from his staff. (This is actually legal and many members do it, but it’s also very shady.)
Throughout all of this, Hunter’s campaign treasurer repeatedly asked Duncan Hunter to verify that these really were campaign charges. Almost every time, Duncan Hunter responded that yes, indeed they were.
Duncan Hunter needs to step down. There is no place in the Republican Party or the American government for this kind of gross corruption. Although less damaging than the double-header of Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and the guilty verdict returned against Paul Manafort, Hunter’s indictment is also another blow to Trump. Hunter was one of the first two members of Congress to endorse his candidacy. Representative Chris Collins, R-N.Y., the other early Trump endorser, was indicted earlier this month on insider trading charges.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has already removed Hunter from committee assignments, but as the Republican Party and GOP White House increasingly resemble a collection of criminals, lawmakers must signal that this behavior is unacceptable and that those who engage in it will face serious consequences.
The first loss for the GOP over the Hunter indictment will likely be his seat in California’s 50th Congressional District. This November, Hunter is on the ballot to defend his seat against Democratic challenger, Ammar Campa-Najjar. At this point, their names will be the only two on the ballot since they won the top-two primary in June. That could have serious implications as a Democratic controlled Congress would likely bring impeachment charges against Trump.
