Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) threw his own wife under the bus almost immediately after the two them were indicted for using campaign funds for personal expenses ranging from foreign vacations to golf shorts.
Why would he do that? Was she really the mastermind of their criminal scheme?
The indictment which lays out 60 charges of fraud makes it fairly clear that both of the Hunters were deeply involved, but it also lays out something else that is just now being pieced together: Duncan Hunter may have been cheating on his wife with multiple women.
The indictment includes charges that involve Rep. Hunter wining and dining with five unnamed 'Individuals' (Individual 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18) that now appear to have been women. And the indictment itself does not spell that out, but the Hunters' defense attorney did.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, which first uncovered Hunter's spending habits two years ago, reports that their attorney wrote a letter to the Justice Department to complain about the investigation before the indictment was made public and the letter included accusations of infidelity.
In an August letter to the Justice Department, defense attorney Gregory Vega argued that prosecutors are pursuing criminal charges for conduct that falls into gray areas of civil election law. [...]
According to Vega’s letter, prosecutors told the defense that they have pictures of indiscretions.
“While there may be evidence of infidelity, irresponsibility or alcohol dependence, once properly understood, the underlying facts do not equate to criminal activity," Vega wrote.
As Vega told the Justice Department before the indictment, “These allegations are… intended to embarrass and humiliate the congressman shortly before a crucial election, and also to alienate him from his wife, the only other person under investigation and his intended co-defendant.”
Ironically, we wouldn't know about this if his lawyer had not written this letter. The indictment itself does not allege that Hunter had a side-chick in every major city.
Duncan Hunter is suppose to be a fiscally conservative man who believes in Family Values, even though he can't manage his own finances and appears to have routinely cheated on his wife, but the Republican party has chosen to stand by him.
The good news for the GOP is that Hunter's trial will not begin until several weeks after the election.