“It’s sad that they were able to bludgeon her into submission. We’ve got some Hillary lawyers there in San Diego.”
— Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), quoted by NBC News, on his wife, Margaret, taking a plea deal on corruption charges and possibly testifying against him.
Margaret Hunter, the wife of Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), formally admitted that she illegally used thousands of dollars in campaign donations for her personal expenses, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
“Specifically, Margaret Hunter pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy. She faces up to five years in federal custody and a $250,000 fine when she is sentenced Sept. 1.”
“The 22-page agreement makes clear that Margaret Hunter has been cooperating with prosecutors for months — and her eventual sentence will reflect that help.”
Duncan Hunter told the Associated Press that “political reasons” prompted the U.S. Justice Department to pressure his wife to testify against him.
Margaret Hunter, the wife of longtime Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) who was co-indicted with her husband last summer, “has agreed to change her plea of not guilty and is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday morning,” the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
“Both Hunter and wife were indicted in August on 60 criminal counts related to what prosecutors allege was a yearslong misuse of campaign donations to the congressman’s re-election fund.”
The congressman’s attorney declined to discuss whether she might be cooperating with the prosecution.
Flashback: Hunter blames wife for illegal spending.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) “has acknowledged taking a photo with a dead combatant during his time as a Marine as he defended a Navy SEAL charged with multiple war crimes, including killing a teenage fighter,” the AP reports.
The trial for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret, was set during a hearing on Monday for Sept. 10, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
“The two face 60 counts of crimes including conspiracy wire fraud and making false reports to the Federal Election Commission.”
The Atlantic: “Publicly disgraced, out of money, and facing both jail time and a suddenly-surging challenger—what was an indicted congressman to do?”
“Eventually, Hunter seemed to arrive at his answer: try to eke out a win by waging one of the most brazenly anti-Muslim smear campaigns in recent history.”
“In the final weeks of the election, Hunter has aired ominous ads warning that his Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, is ‘working to infiltrate Congress’ with the support of the Muslim Brotherhood. He has circulated campaign literature claiming the Democrat is a ‘national security threat’ who might reveal secret U.S. troop movements to enemies abroad if elected. While Hunter himself floats conspiracy theories from the stump about a wave of ‘radical Muslims’ running for office in America, his campaign is working overtime to cast Campa-Najjar as a nefarious figure reared and raised by terrorists.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter‘s (R-CA) campaign insinuates in a new TV ad that his Democratic opponent is part of an attempt by Muslims to “infiltrate” the U.S. government, Politico reports.
“As Democratic groups have sensed vulnerability, Hunter‘s campaign has embraced a tactic that strikes critics as racist: invoking the fraught family history of Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, whose grandfather was involved in the terrorist attacks on the 1972 Munich Olympics.”
“While Campa-Najjar has forcefully renounced his grandfather, saying he died 16 years before the candidate was born and emphasizing that Campa-Najjar is a Christian who has passed government security clearances, the Hunter campaign is doubling down.”
Ammar Campa-Najjar (D), who is running against indicted Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), is running a new ad that exclusively uses clips from Fox News to attack Hunter, the Sacramento Bee reports.
“The criminal indictment issued against Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, last month alleges years of cavalier spending — luxury resorts, fine dining, tequila shots and more — all paid for with political contributions,” the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
The 47-page document also says Hunter had “personal relationships” with five unnamed individuals.
Defense attorney Gregory Vega objected: “While there may be evidence of infidelity, irresponsibility or alcohol dependence, once properly understood, the underlying facts do not equate to criminal activity.”
After blaming his wife for illegal use of campaign funds last week, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) changed his tune in an interview with KGTV.
Said Hunter: “Leave my wife out of it, leave my family out of it. It’s me they’re after anyway. They’re not after my wife; they want to take me down, that’s what they’re up to. So let’s get this in the arena and have this settled.”
A new Survey USA poll in California’s 50th district finds Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) leading challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar (D) by eight points, 47% to 39%.
Hunter was indicted last week for misusing campaign funds.
“Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R-CA) legal defense is coming from the same campaign coffers he and his wife are accused of misusing, so far amounting to more than $600,000 for the lawyers,” Roll Call reports.
“Federal Election Commission filings show Hunter’s campaign made payments for ‘legal services’ or ‘legal fees’ to eight different law firms in excess of $600,000 during the 2018 election cycle. This includes disbursements of $182,000 to the San Diego-based law firm Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek, which is representing Hunter in the grand jury investigation. The five-term GOP incumbent and his wife were indicted for allegedly using $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) “seemed to shift any blame onto his wife, Margaret, on Thursday for alleged campaign fund abuses, saying she was the one handling his finances,” CNN reports.
Said Hunter: “She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did that’ll be looked at too, I’m sure. But I didn’t do it. I didn’t spend any money illegally.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) told KGTV that he’s innocent of accusations of campaign funding misuse one day after he and his wife Margaret were indicted by a federal grand jury.
Said Hunter: “We’re excited about going to trial with this, frankly. This is modern politics and modern media mixed in with law enforcement that has a political agenda. That’s the new Department of Justice.”
He added: “Let them expose themselves for what they are: a politically motivated group of folks.”
“The criminal investigation into Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is intensifying as a grand jury in San Diego questions multiple former aides about whether the California Republican improperly diverted political funds for personal use,” Politico reports.
“Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Hunter’s parents, as well as a female lobbyist with whom many people close to the congressman believe he had a romantic relationship.”
“The Justice Department is trying to determine whether hundreds of thousands of dollars from Hunter’s campaign account were spent improperly on his family and friends. Hunter already sold his home to pay back what even he now acknowledges were improper charges, moving his wife and kids in with his parents while he mostly lives in his Capitol Hill office.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) “raised only $50,000 for his reelection bid in the final quarter of 2017, all while paying six-figures on legal bills as he’s investigated for improper use of campaign cash,” The Hill reports.
“The sum is staggeringly low for a sitting member seeking reelection and it gives Hunter $290,904 in his campaign account.”
“He’s just like he is on TV. He’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole.”
— Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), quoted by the San Diego Union Tribune, discussing President Trump with a group of young Republicans.
FBI agents searched the office of Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R-CA) campaign treasurer in February, “seizing computer equipment and documents related to their investigation into whether Hunter misused campaign funds,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The warrant said agents were looking for evidence relating to whether the GOP representative’s campaign funds were used for personal reasons, whether there was a scheme to defraud a bank over video game purchases and whether Hunter’s campaign finance reports were falsified to ‘impede or influence’ the FBI or House Ethics Committee inquiries into his use of campaign funds.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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