Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2019 13:10:36 GMT
"After years of denials and claims that he was the target of a political witch hunt, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) is scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday morning to plead guilty in a sweeping campaign finance investigation.
The announcement was posted on the U.S. District Court docket Monday morning, then KUSI aired an interview with Hunter in which he said he would plead guilty to one of the 60 criminal charges against him. He suggested that he is likely to spend time in custody.
“The plea I accepted is misuse of my own campaign funds, of which I pled guilty to only one count,” Hunter told the station. “I think it’s important that people know that I did make mistakes. I did not properly monitor or account for my campaign money. I justify my plea with the understanding that I am responsible for my own campaign and my own campaign money.”
The reversal comes nearly six months after Hunter’s wife and former campaign manager, Margaret Hunter, admitted to her role in a widespread scheme that saw the couple allegedly spend more than $200,000 in campaign donations on family expenses like vacations, gas, groceries, school lunches and oral surgery. Such spending is prohibited to prevent undue influence by contributors.
Hunter did not explicitly say he would be stepping down — often an outcome in any such plea agreement — but he answered a question about what would happen to his seat in Congress.
“I’m confident that the transition will be a good one,” he told KUSI. “My office is going to remain open. We’re going to pass it off to whoever takes this seat next. I think it’s important to keep the seat a Republican seat.”"...
Earlier this year, as the congressman continued to deny his guilt and prosecutors disclosed more of their evidence in public court filings, it became clear that Hunter had extramarital affairs with at least five different women over many years and paid for them with campaign funds.
Though never identified publicly, three of the women were noted to be lobbyists and two others were reported to be congressional staffers.
According to the July court filings, Hunter used campaign funds to pay for a three-day weekend at Lake Tahoe with one woman who was not his wife. On another occasion, he used political donations to pay for a stay at the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel in Washington, D.C., records show.
The indictment also said that Hunter and his wife were well aware that their use of the campaign donations was questionable. Prosecutors recently said in a court filing that Rep. Hunter was warned about the spending as early as 2010.
The couple’s joint bank account was overdrawn more than 1,100 times over the six-plus years of records examined by prosecutors and the couple racked up some $36,000 in overdraft penalties — fees they paid using campaign funds, the indictment stated."
www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-02/rep-duncan-hunter-to-abandon-not-guilty-plea-in-campaign-finance-scandal
Family values, y'all.
"Gay Marriage Hunter opposes gay marriage. He co-sponsored a House resolution seeking a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. He says that “marriage is one of the most important social institutions we have” and that “children need the unique influence offered by both a father and a mother.” Compare McCain and Obama"
www.pewforum.org/2008/11/04/religion-and-politics-08-duncan-hunter/
The announcement was posted on the U.S. District Court docket Monday morning, then KUSI aired an interview with Hunter in which he said he would plead guilty to one of the 60 criminal charges against him. He suggested that he is likely to spend time in custody.
“The plea I accepted is misuse of my own campaign funds, of which I pled guilty to only one count,” Hunter told the station. “I think it’s important that people know that I did make mistakes. I did not properly monitor or account for my campaign money. I justify my plea with the understanding that I am responsible for my own campaign and my own campaign money.”
The reversal comes nearly six months after Hunter’s wife and former campaign manager, Margaret Hunter, admitted to her role in a widespread scheme that saw the couple allegedly spend more than $200,000 in campaign donations on family expenses like vacations, gas, groceries, school lunches and oral surgery. Such spending is prohibited to prevent undue influence by contributors.
Hunter did not explicitly say he would be stepping down — often an outcome in any such plea agreement — but he answered a question about what would happen to his seat in Congress.
“I’m confident that the transition will be a good one,” he told KUSI. “My office is going to remain open. We’re going to pass it off to whoever takes this seat next. I think it’s important to keep the seat a Republican seat.”"...
Earlier this year, as the congressman continued to deny his guilt and prosecutors disclosed more of their evidence in public court filings, it became clear that Hunter had extramarital affairs with at least five different women over many years and paid for them with campaign funds.
Though never identified publicly, three of the women were noted to be lobbyists and two others were reported to be congressional staffers.
According to the July court filings, Hunter used campaign funds to pay for a three-day weekend at Lake Tahoe with one woman who was not his wife. On another occasion, he used political donations to pay for a stay at the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel in Washington, D.C., records show.
The indictment also said that Hunter and his wife were well aware that their use of the campaign donations was questionable. Prosecutors recently said in a court filing that Rep. Hunter was warned about the spending as early as 2010.
The couple’s joint bank account was overdrawn more than 1,100 times over the six-plus years of records examined by prosecutors and the couple racked up some $36,000 in overdraft penalties — fees they paid using campaign funds, the indictment stated."
www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-02/rep-duncan-hunter-to-abandon-not-guilty-plea-in-campaign-finance-scandal
Family values, y'all.
"Gay Marriage Hunter opposes gay marriage. He co-sponsored a House resolution seeking a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. He says that “marriage is one of the most important social institutions we have” and that “children need the unique influence offered by both a father and a mother.” Compare McCain and Obama"
www.pewforum.org/2008/11/04/religion-and-politics-08-duncan-hunter/
