Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194
What Just Happened?
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.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department over alleged campaign finance violations, Politico reports.
San Diego Union-Tribune: “The Department of Justice has not made public the existence of an investigation, nor detailed what crimes it suspects Hunter or members of his campaign may have committed. Other lawmakers accused of personal spending have been indicted on charges including income tax evasion and making false reports to the Federal Election Commission.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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