Marine veteran and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., illegally used campaign funds to finance romantic flings with lobbyists and congressional aides, spending thousands of dollars on meals, cocktails and vacations, federal prosecutors say.
Details about the married Republican congressman’s alleged affairs were outlined in a government court filing late Monday connected to charges that Hunter and his wife misspent more than $200,000 in campaign money on trips and personal expenses.
Margaret Hunter pleaded guilty this month to one corruption count and agreed to testify against her husband.
The congressman has said he is the target of politically motivated prosecutors. His lawyer, Gregory Vega, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the new court filing.
RELATED
Indicted six-term GOP Congressman Duncan Hunter has held steadfast to his contention that a corruption case against him is the result of a political witch hunt.
Prosecutors said evidence about the congressman's affairs is necessary to "demonstrate Hunter's ... intent to break the law and to establish his motive to embezzle from his campaign."
In one case, prosecutors said Hunter was romantically involved with a lobbyist and began staying at her home while occasionally spending campaign funds for food and beverages.
Hunter flew to Reno, Nevada, in January 2010 ostensibly to attend a convention for a nonprofit group. After a brief stop at the convention, Hunter and the lobbyist headed for a ski resort near Lake Tahoe, where they spent the weekend skiing and ordering room service, according to the filing.
Prosecutors said Hunter used campaign funds to rent the car, pay the hotel tab and fly back to Washington.
"The intimate nature of these relationships is ... an essential element of the crimes charged in the indictment," the document said.
The "sequence of romantic liaisons is so far removed from any legitimate campaign or congressional activity as to rebut any argument that Hunter believed these were proper uses of campaign funds," prosecutors added.
Hunter was re-elected by Southern California’s most Republican congressional district in 2018 despite facing a federal indictment.
The more the Navy experiments with unmanned systems, the more it's learning what it needs — and what it doesn't.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the claim reflects Moscow’s desire to find an alternative to missiles.
A small, yet nimble and heavily used light-attack helicopter that carries small teams of special operators into battle has a problem.
A Florida congressman's take on MARSOC 3.
Having eyes on the battlefield can mean the difference between hitting the right or wrong target, or even hitting the target at all, which is why U.S. special operators are looking to upgrade a host of optics items.
Hundreds more fighters have emerged from the Mariupol stronghold where they made their last stand and surrendered.
President Joe Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act to speed production of infant formula and has authorized flights to import supply from overseas.
From food to child care to housing, inflation is hitting junior service members especially hard.
Meet two soldier moms who discuss the sweeping changes benefiting new parents and others on this episode of The Spouse Angle podcast.
The remains of an American airman missing in World War II may be heading home, thanks to a chance discovery of records in flood-threatened archives in Thailand.
The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction mirrors assertions made by senior Pentagon and military leaders.
But the Pentagon inspector general does not recommend any firings or adverse actions in response to the infractions.
The measure could be passed out of the chamber in the next few weeks and become law later this summer.
The Defense Department’s greatest strength is its people.
The supply of infant formula is running 40 percent to 50 percent below normal in commercial stores, but the most critical, specialized formulas have been even more depleted.
Load More