Rep. Duncan Hunter, wife indicted for alleged misuse of campaign funds

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and his wife Margaret were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for allegedly using more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses, including family vacations, dental bills, theater tickets and international travel for relatives.

The indictment also accuses them of filing false campaign finance records with the Federal Election Commission.

Federal prosecutors said they identified “scores of instances” between 2009 and 2016 in which the couple used campaign funds to pay for “personal expenses that they could not otherwise afford.”

Among the personal expenses they allegedly funded with campaign cash were family vacations to locations such as Hawaii and Italy, along with school tuition and smaller purchases such as golf outings, movie tickets, video games, coffee and expensive meals.

The couple allegedly misreported the expenses on FEC filings, using false descriptions such as “campaign travel,” “toy drives,” “dinner with volunteers/contributors” and “gift cards,” according to federal prosecutors.

“The indictment alleges that Congressman Hunter and his wife repeatedly dipped into campaign coffers as if they were personal bank accounts, and falsified FEC campaign finance reports t, u.o cover their tracks,” U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said in a statement. “Elected representatives should jealously guard the public’s trust, not abuse their positions for personal gain.”

Duncan Hunter, 41, and Margaret Hunter, 43, are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

Hunter, whose district includes Ramona, has been under scrutiny since April 2016, when the FCC and then The San Diego Union-Tribune began questioning campaign fund expenses. Spending campaign funds for personal use is banned by law. By November 2017, Hunter had repaid his campaign more than $60,000 for what his campaign described as “personal, mistaken and insufficiently documented expenditures.”

Hunter’s campaign released a statement after news of the indictment broke in which one of his attorneys, Gregory A. Vega, attacked the credibility of prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The statement said two prosecutors involved in the investigation attended a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in August 2015.

Vega called for the U.S. Department of Justice to recuse the prosecutors.

Morgan Cook with The San Diego Union-Tribune contributed to this report.