Rep. Duncan Hunter's Wife Implicates Congressman in Vast Misuse of Campaign Funds [View all]
Source: Times of San Diego
Silver-haired Judge Thomas Whelan smiled to a packed federal courtroom Thursday as he took his chair in a case that could lead to the unseating of Rep. Duncan D. Hunter.
But Hunter's wife, Margaret, wasn't smiling as she pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to use campaign funds for a family vacation in November 2015 -- and attested to $200,000 in fraudulent spending involving at least 30 illegal transactions.
Her 22-page plea agreement, which implicated the East County congressman in many other criminal offenses, included a promise to testify before any trial or post-trial proceedings "as deemed necessary by the government."
Read more: https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2019/06/13/rep-duncan-hunters-wife-implicates-congressman-in-vast-misuse-of-campaign-funds/
Here's my take on this: Hunter is toast. Stick a fork in him. There are many more counts against him -- some of which he can't possibly blame on his wife, who has been cooperating with prosecutors to build their case against him.
For instance, the indictments, which I've read, allege that he spent campaign funds on hotels with mistresses including a staffer. Pretty sure Mrs. Hunter didn't sign the tabs for those.
Once convicted while there is no requirement, Dems in the House are likely to expel him. Even if they don't, if he's in prison (a near certainty, by my prediction based on the mountain of evidence) the Republicans will mount a primary challenge and already three Reps have announced plans to run for the seat if Hunter is convicted after his September trial.
Ammar Campa Najjar, the Dem in the race who nearly beat Hunter last time, tweeted this to CNN today: "Confused? I'll clarify: @Rep_Hunter is going to jail."
Maybe throwing his wife under the bus, publicly blaming her while claiming to reporters "I didn't do it," wasn't the smartest strategy for an indicted Congressman also caught cheating on his wife.
Link to tweet
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