The political activist group known as ‘the Hedge-Clippers’ released a report showing that just seven wealthy donors donated 30-million dollars throughout state and federal campaigns this election cycle.
The group argues that the power of these dollars unfairly benefit Republican candidates, maintaining an unequal power structure.
Jess Wisneski of Citizen Action of New York, health care activist Elizabeth Deutsch and Chris Tallent of Mayday explain more.
The 48-page indictment said the Hunters attempted to conceal the eight years of spending in federal records, while their household budget was awash in red ink
A judge granted attorneys for California’s Republican Rep. Duncan D. Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, more time to review the more than 12,000 pages worth of data against their clients at a brief status hearing Monday.
The Hunters pleaded not guilty to charges of misusing $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including a family vacation to Italy, Hawaii, school tuition, dental work and theater tickets, among others.
The 48-page indictment said they attempted to conceal the eight years of spending in federal records, while their household budget was awash in red ink.
Protesters Gather Outside Hearing for the Hunters
Protesters carrying musical instruments and others dressed in costumes, including a 12-foot inflatable man in a hazmat suit, nicknamed Cleanup Carl, awaited the Hunters as they walked inside the Southern District of California courthouse in San Diego Monday.
San Diego resident Judy Harrington wore bunny ears and held a sign referencing an accusation that Duncan Hunter spent hundreds to fly the family’s pet bunny across the country.
“I hope we raise awareness that it’s not too much to ask for honesty in our elected officials. I mean, really, is that unreasonable?” Harrington said.
Duncan Hunter’s lawyers said in 2017 that he and his wife repaid the campaign about $60,000, including the $600 airfare fee for the rabbit.
Even with the charges, Hunter is considered to have a strong chance of winning his sixth term on Nov. 6. The 50th Congressional District east of San Diego is the most Republican in Southern California, where the party holds a nearly 15-point registration edge over Democrats.
In court, Duncan and Margaret Hunter’s defense attorneys said they needed more time to review the alleged evidence against their clients while prosecutors said since it is a “simple” case of embezzlement, more time was not necessary.
A judge sided with the defense stating it was wasn’t unreasonable that they would need more time considering the many years over which the alleged crimes occurred. Another status hearing was set for December 3.
Margaret Hunter, who was at the time of the allegations Duncan Hunter’s campaign manager, has arrived at their three court appearances separate from her husband.
Following Indictment, Duncan Hunter Points Blame on Wife
The day after they were indicted, Duncan Hunter appeared to blame his wife, who was the congressman’s campaign manager at the time, for any misappropriation of funds. He later told NBC 7 that he wants prosecutors to leave his wife alone, contradicting his previous remarks.
“My message to the U.S. attorney here is let’s get this in court,” Hunter said last Tuesday. “Leave my wife out of it, we know they’re not after her they’re after me. They want to flip the seat, so let’s go to court let’s have a trial and everybody will see everything.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter Says ‘Leave My Wife Out of It’
Duncan Hunter and his attorney have maintained that the charges against him are politically motivated and that he looks forward to fighting the allegations in court.
He was among the earliest Republican members of Congress to endorse President Donald Trump and has in interviews compared himself to the president, saying “this is the new Department of Justice. This is the Democrats’ arm of law enforcement.”
“It will be good to expose the leftists that are in the U.S. right now that have brought all this on for political reasons,” Hunter reiterated, telling NBC 7 the charges against him are false.
Democratic candidate Campa-Najjar, a 29-year-old former Obama administration employee, is making his first run for Congress. He has made Hunter’s indictment a central issue in his campaign in the hopes of unseating the five-term congressman, a former Marine.
In the ad that started airing Monday — the third one his campaign has made focusing on the indictment — the narrator describes the charges and says of Hunter: “He’s so in it for himself, it’s criminal.”
Then the music changes, and Campa-Najjar is described as a hard-working, small businessman who once worked as a janitor in a church. It ends with him shaking the hand of a veteran in a cowboy hat.
Hunter has called the indictment by a grand jury a political witch hunt. His campaign did not respond to requests for comment on the new TV ad.
Margaret Hunter has yet to speak publicly about the charges.
San Diego Union Tribune – 9/24/18
Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, are scheduled to be back in court Dec. 3 for a status conference on charges they illegally used more than $250,000 in campaign funds to fund their lavish lifestyles and filed false campaign finance records to cover it up.
The couple appeared in federal court in downtown San Diego Monday morning where their attorneys asked for more time to go through the thousands of pages of documents amassed in the case as part of the federal probe.
Thomas McNamara, the attorney for Margaret Hunter, asked U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Whelan to give the defense “several months” before scheduling another status conference, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Allen said that was too long for what she characterized as a straightforward embezzlement case.
“This is a very simple case, when it comes down to it,’’ Allen told the judge, noting the government’s speedy trial rights.
McNamara said it took the government 2 1/2 years to investigate the case. “It’s not a simple case for us,” McNamara said.
Whelan set the new hearing two months out, citing the amount of documents and saying it was in the interest of justice. With more than 200 overt acts alleged in a 60-count indictment, the judge said the defense request was not “unreasonable.’’
The Republican congressman and his wife — who arrived in court separately — were greeted outside the courthouse by more than a dozen demonstrators. At one point, some in the group chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Duncan Hunter must go,” as one man beat on a drum.
Last month, Duncan Hunter and Margaret Hunter pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, falsification of records and aiding and abetting in the prohibited use of campaign contributions.
According to the indictment, the Hunters used campaign funds to pay for trips, meals, video games, private school tuition, oral surgery and a garage door for their Alpine home.
Hunter also reported spending $600 on an airline ticket to fly the family pet rabbit across the country.
After the brief hearing Monday, Duncan Hunter was trailed by protesters and photographers as he left the courthouse, crossed Front Street and ducked into an office building. Some could be heard chanting, “Lock him up.”
One protester dressed in a rabbit costume, held a sign that read, “Hoppy trail to jail.”
Attorneys for Duncan Hunter and Margaret Hunter did not make statements to reporters outside the courthouse.
City News Service contributed to this report.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., center, leaves federal court in San Diego Sept. 24. Hunter and his wife, Margaret, pleaded not guilty on Aug. 23 to charges they illegally used his campaign account for personal expenses. (Gregory Bull/AP)
WASHINGTON — California Rep. Duncan Hunter won’t face trial on fraud and corruption charges until after the midterm elections, a federal judge ruled on Monday.
Hunter, one of the most prominent combat veterans in Congress, was indicted in August on charges he and his wife stole more than $250,000 in campaign funds to pay for overseas vacations, bar tabs, dental work and other personal purchases.
The five-term Republican lawmaker has denied the charges, labeling them a political attack designed to hurt his re-election chances.
A federal judge could have set his trial date for as early as Nov. 1, but Hunter’s attorney’s requested additional time to respond to the allegations and federal prosecutors’ evidence. The couple is now scheduled to appear back in court on Dec. 3, about four weeks after the election.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Hunter and his wife, Margaret, arrived separately at the hearing and were greeted by protesters outside the courthouse.
Hunter, who joined the Marine Corps after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has portrayed himself on Capitol Hill as a proud veteran and a defender of the best interests of military personnel. He served as an artillery officer in Iraq (twice) and Afghanistan, and served simultaneously in Congress and the Marine Corps Reserve until last year.
He was an outspoken member of the House Armed Services Committee until last month, when the indictment forced him to step down from his committee assignments.
But the federal indictment paints Hunter as an opportunist who turned to campaign donations to cover a host of personal debts and maintain a lavish lifestyle. Illegal expenses include more than $6,100 spent on private school tuition payments, $3,100 on home cable bills, $5,900 on trips to Pittsburgh Steelers games and $6,500 on a family vacation to Hawaii.
The charges also include several problematic purchases related to the military. In one case, prosecutors allege, Hunter joked that he would list a pair of shorts he bought for vacation as “(golf) balls for wounded warriors” in official campaign records, to justify the expense.
On another occasion, he listed a $14,000 family trip to Italy as a “mostly military/defense meet related” event even though he never set up a tour of U.S. naval facilities there.
East County News Sevice – 9/23/18
“CleanUp Carl” inflatable is part of a “Clean the House 2018 tour” funded by the PAC Mayday America to get big money out of politics. This photo was taken at a rally against Rep. Steve Knight. The figure will be in San Diego Monday to protest Rep. Duncan Hunter.
September 23, 2018 (San Diego) — A 12-foot-high inflatable man in a yellow hazmat suit will join members of Indivisible on Monday at 8:30 a.m. at a rally at Federal Courthouse Plaza (333 W. Broadway, San Diego). to protest Rep. Duncan Hunter’s alleged corruption as he appears again in federal court on felony charges of embezzling $250,000 in campaign cash.
“Members of Indivisible will bring items that represent some of the Hunters’ staggering number of personal purchases made with donations from lobbyists and other donors to his campaign,” a press release from the group states. “Speakers will connect Rep. Hunter’s corruption by special interests with his votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass the GOP Tax Scam, favoring the powerful over the well-being of his constituents.”
“CleanUp Carl” joins the rally as part of a California “Clean the House 2018 Tour,” by the PAC Mayday America, to get big money out of politics.
Allegedly illegal purchases made by Duncan and Margaret Hunter included groceries, gas, utility bills, clothing, alcohol, video games, restaurants, golfing, race track outings, theater tickets, football games, movie tickets, museum outings, luggage, home décor, cosmetics, dog food, cameras, a computer, private school tuition and luxury vacations in Italy, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Boise, Lake Tahoe, Laguna Beach, Palm Springs, Pittsburgh, Mississippi and Washington, DC.
Hunter and his wife, Margaret, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial is set to begin after the November election. If convicted, Hunter, a Republican, could face substantial time in federal prison and would be required to give up his seat in Congress, requiring a taxpayer-funded special election to replace him if he wins in November against Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.
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