BOMBSHELL: CHARGED WITH FRAUD, trumptard DUNCAN HUNTER THROWS WIFE UNDER THE BUS
Facing an inventory of campaign-finance violations that would make Paul Manafort blush, the California congressman is blaming his wife.
BY TINA NGUYEN
AUGUST 24, 2018 6:01 PM
vanityfair.com
By Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images.
California Rep. Duncan Hunter was only one of the four Donald Trump allies slammed by the justice system this week, and possibly the least consequential of the bunch, but according to the unsealed indictment charging him with dozens of counts of campaign-finance fraud, the allegations against him are the most eye-popping. By the diminished standards of a congressman on a government salary, Hunter’s expenses rival Paul Manafort’s lavish lifestyle of rugs and an ostrich jacket: prosecutors allege that Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, used the campaign’s coffers to buy housing supplies from Costco and Target, pay tuition and dental bills for their children, fund a more than $14,000 family vacation to Italy, and spent $250 dollars to bring a pet on a flight—all while racking up personal overdraft fees totaling more than $37,000. (Hunter and his wife have pleaded not guilty.)
“This is pure politics,” Hunter protested Thursday night on Fox News, saying that the charges were filed just before his re-election, and implying that the “Democrats’ arm of law enforcement” had it out for him. But he didn’t stop with the tried-and-true talking points: “When I went away to Iraq in 2003, the first time, I gave [Margaret] power of attorney. She handled my finances throughout my entire military career, and that continued on when I got into Congress,” he told Martha MacCallum, effectively blaming his wife for the scandal. “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.”
Margaret, who was reportedly named a campaign manager over the protests of the treasurer, and was given a six-figure salary to perform dubious responsibilities, and access their credit cards, was indeed personally responsible for many of the expenditures listed in the indictment: personal flights for her mother, her mother’s boyfriend, and her sister; running shoes disguised as “equipment” for a “wounded warriors” event; and Expedia purchases for family vacations. (According to the indictment, she used Expedia receipts to hide the locations and names of their destinations, believing that they would not end up in campaign records.)
That does not, however, explain Hunter’s own alleged misuse of campaign funds: spending more than $200 to play golf with friends and describing it as a “Christian thing? with a supporter,” buying expensive dinners (and 30 shots of tequila at one point), and thousands of dollars on activities with people listed as Individuals 14, 15, and 18. They include thousands of dollars spent on a personal vacation with Individual 14 at a Tahoe ski resort; a $162.02 charge for “a personal stay at the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel with Individual 14”; repeated trips to Individual 15’s house; and a $32.27 Uber ride at 7:40 A.M., in Washington, D.C., from Individual 18’s home to Duncan’s office. While the numbered individuals are not identified, speculation immediately turned to a previous report from Politico, back in February, which noted that the federal investigation into Hunter’s finances included numerous inquiries into his relationships with women, including a female lobbyist and an intern Hunter promoted for reasons his office found unclear. (Hunter denied the allegations in the Politico report at the time, calling them “tabloid trash.”)
Whatever happened after Hunter threw his wife under the bus clearly did not bring the couple closer together: according to CNN, the two arrived at the courthouse separately, entered the courtroom separately, and “sat four seats apart” during the hearing.
Regardless of whether Hunter, his wife, or both get convicted, the charges could not have come at a worse time for the Republican Party, now in a desperate fight to keep the House in the upcoming midterms. Hunter’s seat, which he virtually inherited from his father, was long considered safe for November. But Hunter’s indictment, which plays into the growing sense that the G.O.P. is the party of corruption, has suddenly opened the door for his Democratic rival, Ammar Campa-Najjar, a 29-year-old former Obama official mounting a long-shot bid. The G.O.P. has thus been forced to make a hard decision: pour resources into defending a newly contentious seat, or let Hunter flounder. (They cannot remove him from the ballot at this point.)
“I think [the G.O.P. is] gonna cut and run. Lets face it, they’ve got a lot of seats to protect,” Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, told The Hill. “The list of vulnerable seats is expanding and the G.O.P. is scrambling right now, because they don’t have the resources to cover all these seats coming into play. They’re going to have to make some tough choices.” |
