Duncan Hunter (on the left)I didn't want to let all today's wild hubbub over the two close Trump cronies-- ex-campaign manager and likely conduit between Trump and the Russians, Paul Manafort, and long-time Trump bagman, Michael Cohen-- to cause everyone to overlook the indictments of San Diego area congressman Duncan Hunter, Jr. and his wife. They were (finally) charged with stealing a quarter million dollars in campaign funds to use for personal expenses. I might add that Duncan Hunter was the second member of Congress to endorse Trump. The first was Chris Collins (R-NY) who was indicted last week... and has withdrawn from his reelection campaign.Hunter's mostly exurban, rural district east of San Diego was one of California's strongest for Trump. Hillary only scored 39.6% there, one of only 4 districts where she failed to get over 40%. The PVI is a daunting R+11, the second worst in the state (tied with Doug LaMalfa's hellhole, almost all of which is on fire right now... but they want less govermut).Yesterday-- we saw justice in action, as Hunter and his wife, Margaret were indicted on wire fraud, falsifying records, campaign finance violations and conspirac charges. They will be arraigned tomorrow at Federal Court in San Diego.Ted Lieu told me several months ago that he expected to see Hunter indicted and that if he were it would be possible for this safe red seat flip. The GOP agrees. CNN reported that "Republican Party leaders had long worried that with a potential indictment looming, Hunter's traditionally safe district, which makes up much of eastern San Diego County, could be at risk of Democratic takeover in November's midterm election."
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in unusual charges on Hunter's campaign credit card had come under scrutiny, including among other things, an Italian vacation, dental work, purchases at a surf shop, and huge tabs at bars in restaurants in the San Diego and Washington, DC, areas. Among the most mocked charges was airfare for a pet rabbit to fly with the family, which an aide said was mistakenly charged to the wrong credit card.Hunter, a former Marine, has reimbursed his campaign account some $65,000 since the Federal Election Commission first questioned spending on video games in 2016, according to FEC records."There was wrong campaign spending, but it was not done by me," Hunter told KGTV-10, a San Diego television station, earlier this year.His comments have cast blame on his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret Hunter, who also made charges on the campaign credit card.Hunter's lawyers said last year that "any mistakes were made they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional."California's 50th District is a staunchly Republican district with many current and former military families. The Congressman's father, Duncan L. Hunter, represented parts of the district (which changed after redistricting) and has rallied donors and supporters to his son's side.Hunter's Democratic challenger, Ammar Campa-Najjar, a former Department of Labor aide in the Obama administration, has repeatedly outraised him.Many Hunter allies believe he will stay in his House seat while fighting the charges.Even if federal candidates choose to withdraw from contention, their names will remain on the ballot unless they seek removal of their names from a judge, according to the California Secretary of State's Office.At this late juncture, there is no possibility of a write-in campaign. Only Hunter and Campa-Najjar will appear on the November ballot, since they were the top vote-getters in California's top-two primary in June.
