The Justice Department is investigating Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, over alleged campaign finance violations.
The House Committee on Ethics had been investigating allegations that Hunter used campaign funds for personal use.
According to a report by the Office of Congressional Ethics, “Rep. Hunter may have converted tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds from his congressional campaign committee to personal use to pay for family travel, flights, utilities, health care, school uniforms and tuition, jewelry, groceries, and other goods, services, and expenses.”
RELATED: Ethics Panel Looks At Rep. Duncan Hunter
In a statement released Thursday, the Committee on Ethics said that it deferred its investigation at the request of the Justice Department.
During a town hall on March 11 at the Mainstage in Ramona, Hunter was asked about his alleged personal use of campaign funds. In response, the congressman said his campaign had made a mistake and that the funds had been paid back. Hunter told the audience “I fixed it, and as far as I'm concerned, end of story.”
Hunter's office released the following statement:
“Last year, Congressman Hunter became aware of expenditure issues confronting his campaign committee. Out of an abundance of caution, he took corrective action in consultation with the FEC and, ultimately, he and his wife personally repaid the campaign approximately $60,000. Congressman Hunter intends to cooperate fully with the government on this investigation, and maintains that to the extent any mistakes were made they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional.”
— Elliot S. Berke and Gregory A. Vega, attorneys for Congressman Hunter
The top story on midday edition, when Duncan Hunter spoke to a town hall audience this month about possible ethics violations, he said he fixed the problem and end of story. It seems that the Justice Department wants to continue the story. The DOJ hasn't announced it is investigating Congressman Hunter in connection with the improper use of campaign funds. According to a report, represented Hunter may have converted tens of thousands of dollars of Campion and from his Congressional campaign committee for personal use. Joining me is Morgan Cook who is a member of the Tribune investigating reporting team. Welcome to the program. Hello. We learned that the house's -- House Ethics Committee is representing Hunter because of a request from the DOJ. Prosecutors did not confirm they opened a criminal investigation. How do we know that? We know it for a couple of reasons. The committee on ethics would not just defer the investigation because the Department of Justice said we are thinking about taking a look at this we have not started and we are not sure but we are thinking about it. Ethics would say, we are going to go ahead and do our thing and let us know when or if you decide to investigate. Also, we have sources who were close to the investigation who have told us that it is going on. We know that Duncan Hunter has hired a criminal defense attorney. Not all ethics violations are potential criminal offenses. We know an idea of the possible criminal charges that Hunter could face? He could face fraud charges and filing false reports with the FEC. He could face charges related to income tax reporting. He could face conspiracy charges. We can speculate wildly. He could face all kinds of different charges or he could face no charges that is the prosecutors are unable to prove that the violations were knowing and willful. Anything could happen. The Union Tribune has uncovered many questionable expenditures made by the campaign but. Remind us of some of those financial irregularities. One for stories was about video games.for his sun. -- Son. Where did it go from there? They FEC requested information about charges that they had reported for $1300 in video games purchases and also, there was tuition that was paid to Hunter's children's private school. From there, we started taking a closer look and looking back through the finance reports. We saw on things like charges for oral surgery and a new garage door, a trip to Italy and we started asking more questions as we found more questionable charges. One thing that made headlines was it had to do with a pet rabbit. Tell us about that. The campaign had paid $600 in airline fees to fly one of Hunter's children's pet rabbits in the cabin of an airplane with them as the family traveled. We know about this because hunters Chief of Staff told a reporter at the press enterprise that this was one of the things the office of Congressional ethics was going to include in the report. It has not been released. We would not have noted about it if they had not said something about it. As I mentioned, Hunter spoke about the finance questions at the townhome eating. Here is more of what he said. I am a representative to you and the finance up, I was not watching close enough. I should have. It is all straightened out. I paid it back. Announced it prior to election. When I start explain it, it sounds like excuses. The buck stops here. It was my responsibility. It was my responsibility before the campaign and for my family and for the charges that my kid made. That is running. I take responsibility for. I fixed it and it is the end of story. Hi reportedly paid back $60,000 to his campaign. Paying back money does not fix the problem if that money is found to be used illegally, doesn't? No, it does not. It can mitigate problems with the Federal election commission and possibly ethics. The Department of Justice has a criminal investigation. Paying it back does not solve the problem. It is just like if you robbed a jewelry store and giving the jury back in same, I am sorry. That was a mistake to rock the jewelry store. That would not keep you from being prosecuted. Since this news broke, what does the congressman said about the Justice Department investigation? He is speaking through his lawyers. You know, what they said is that he intends to cooperate fully with the government on the investigation. He also maintains that to the extent that mistakes were made, they were strictly inadvertent and not intentional. That is going to be the key thing. I have been speaking with Morgan Cook. Thank you so much. My pleasure. Thank you for having me .
