California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter says his wife is to blame for bookkeeping that resulted in he and his wife being charged with racking up $250,000 in personal expenses that they allegedly billed to his campaign.
‘She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did that’ll be looked at too, I’m sure,’ the lawmaker said, referring to his wife, Margaret Hunter.
‘But I didn’t do it. I didn’t spend any money illegally,’ he added. I did not use campaign money,’ he told Fox News Thursday night, after the federal charges against a sitting congressman drew national news.
Hunter, the son of a longtime California lawmaker by the same name, explained: ‘I’m saying when I went to Iraq in 2003, the first time, I gave her power of attorney and she handled my finances throughout my entire military career and that continued on when I got into Congress. I’m gone five days a week and i’m home for two,’ he said, once again putting the burden on his spouse.
TAKE MY WIFE, PLEASE! Rep. Duncan Hunter said his wife handled the family finances
Hunter and wife Margaret Hunter pleaded not guilty on Thursday to 60 counts of federal charges, including allegations the couple used more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses that ranged from groceries to golf trips and lied about it in federal filings.
The indictment itself notes that it was Hunter who appointed his wife to the paid role of managing his campaign – a practice that is allowed under House ethics laws but that many watchdog groups consider inappropriate on its face.
‘Duncan Hunter installed Margaret Hunter as his paid Campaign Manager despite the protests of his Treasurer and with full knowledge of her long history of misuse of campaign funds, in part because as they discussed the Hunters ‘need[ed] the extra money’ that would come from her salary,’ according to the indictment.
Margaret Hunter arrived and left separately from her husband
He said his campaign ‘did make mistakes.’
The couple arrived separately at court to shouts of ‘lock him up’. Protestors waved signs that read ‘character counts’ and ‘no one is above the law.’
And, when they left separately, they were swarmed by protestors and media, with calls of ‘shame on you’ shouted around them.
Duncan Hunter was swarmed by protestors and media when he left his arraignment
After the arraignment, demonstrators holding signs that read ‘Duncan Hunter Ethics and Integrity Matter’ and ‘Crooked Duncan Hunter’ followed Hunter as he walked to a pickup truck.
He got in and removed a ‘Lock me up!’ sign shoved onto the windshield as he was driven away.
Duncan Hunter and Margaret Hunter were read their rights in the San Diego court and then made their plea. The couple, who have been married since 1998, sat four seats apart during the arraignment.
Hunter had to remove a ‘Lock Him Up’ sign for his vehicle’s windshield
Hunter had to remove a ‘lock him up’ sign from his pickup truck window
Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife Margaret Hunter pleaded not guilty on Thursday to more than 60 federal charges
Rep. Duncan Hunter and wife Margaret Hunter arrived separately at the courthouse to shouts of ‘lock him up’ and sat four seats apart as charges were read against them
The couple was read their rights in the San Diego court and then made their plea
Protestors greeted the couple with shouts of ‘lock him up’
Bonds were set for both: Margaret Hunter at $10,000 and Duncan Hunter at $15,000.
Prosecutors said it could be set low because the Hunters are living paycheck to paycheck.
Hunter, a Republican congressman from California, was ordered to surrender two weapons registered to him by Monday and to submit to drug testing based on pre-trial services.
They both were ordered not to travel outside of the U.S.
Hunter and Margaret Hunter were named in a 48-page indictment filed in San Diego federal court on Tuesday.
The indictment alleges the two took campaign money between 2009 and 2016 to fund a lavish lifestyle, including trips to Italy and Hawaii, golf outings, school tuition, theater tickets and even fast food purchases.
The indictment charges the couple concealed the misuse by falsifying campaign finance records, claiming the expenses were campaign-related.
It also revealed the couple overdrew their bank account more than 1,000 times in a seven year period and made purchases at a number of stores including Target, Barnes and Noble and Men’s Warehouse.
And, in one charge, Hunter is accused of dropping $462.46 in campaign funds for 30 shots of tequila and one steak at El Tamarindo restaurant during a bachelor party.
Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife Margaret were indicted Tuesday on federal charges that they used more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses (they are pictured with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, in 2011)
Protestors were waiting for the Hunters at a San Diego Federal Courthouse
Signs read ‘lock him up,’ ‘Duncan Hunter must go’ and ‘Crooked Duncan Hunter’
Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter was surrounded by protestors
Prosecutors said they set a low bail for the couple because they live paycheck to paycheck
Protestors outside the San Diego Court House where Duncan Hunter and his wife Margaret Hunter were formally charged
Before the charges were announced, Hunter easily finished first in a June primary and established himself as a strong favorite to hold onto California’s 50th Congressional District in San Diego and Riverside counties.
Hunter’s attorney, Gregory A. Vega, claims there was political pressure to tarnish Hunter before the general election.
Immediately afterTuesday’s indictment, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, an election handicapper, moved Hunters seat from safe to competitive.
‘Hunter’s race moves from Solid Republican to the Lean Republican column, with the potential to move further,’ wrote Cook House Editor David Wasserman. ‘The charges aren’t unexpected, but they couldn’t come at a worse time for Republicans.’
And Hunter’s hometown newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, wrote a scathing editorial on Wednesday, calling on him to resign.
‘Hunter badly lost his way, seemingly becoming corrupt to the point of caricature,’ the editorial said. ‘His once-promising political career is now in ruins as a result.’
Given that the primary has already been held, it appears Hunter’s name will be on the ballot this fall.
The California secretary of state’s office said there is no process in the elections code for Hunter to remove his name from the ballot, and there can be no write-in candidates for the November election.
Hunter, 41, an early supporter of President Donald Trump, won a fifth term in 2016 representing a heavily Republican San Diego-area district.
Trump carried the district by 15 points in 2016.
And Hunter’s father, also named Duncan Hunter, represented the area for over 30 years in Congress.
Hunter, echoing the president, said he is a victim of a ‘witch hunt’ – a term Trump has used repeatedly to describe special counsel Robert Mueller’s look at whether he obstructed the Russian investigation.
‘The fact is that there is a culture operating within our Justice Department that is politically motivated. We are seeing this with President Trump; we are seeing this with my case,’ Hunter said in a statement on Wednesday.
‘All the while, there has been a constant barrage of misinformation and salacious headlines in our media regarding this matter. I purposely choose to remain silent, not to feed into this witch-hunt and trust the process.’
Hunter, 41, (pictured with Trump and his father, also named Duncan Hunter) an early supporter of President Donald Trump, won a fifth term in 2016 representing a heavily Republican San Diego-area district. His father represented the area for many years in Congress
The House Ethics panel had investigated allegations that Hunter (center) improperly used campaign funds to pay for tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses
House Speaker Paul Ryan also stripped Hunter of all his committee assignments, a move that virtually renders him powerless as member of Congress.
Hunter was seen as an up-and-coming member of Congress. A former Marine, he served three tours as an artillery officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting in some of the bloodiest battles in Fallujah.
In February, Politico reported many of Hunter’s Capitol Hill colleagues saw him as a promising young lawmaker who appeared to have lost his way.
He gained a reputation for drinking heavily and carousing. There were reports he was involved with several women in Washington, which Hunter called ‘tabloid trash.’
The House Ethics panel had investigated allegations that Hunter improperly used campaign funds to pay for tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.
The panel said in March that it was delaying its inquiry at the request of the Justice Department.
His lawyers said in 2017 that Hunter and his wife repaid the campaign about $60,000.
Hunter’s office said at the time that one of the charges he repaid was a $600 fee for flying a pet bunny with his family.
There was no intent to stick donors with the cost, Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper said at the time. The congressman used airline miles to pay for his family’s travel and there was an assumption that bringing along the rabbit would not incur an extra charge, Kasper told The Associated Press.
When Hunter found out his campaign had paid for the rabbit’s transport, he paid back the money as part of more than $60,000 in other questionable charges, Kasper said.
Kasper pointed to the rabbit expense as an example of overreach by the congressional ethics office.
Hunter, a Republican, and his wife Margaret Hunter were named in a 48-page indictment filed in San Diego federal court