California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter threw his wife under the bus after the couple was charged with illegally blowing through wads of campaign cash on vacations, clothes and other personal items.
“She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did, that’ll be looked at too, I’m sure,” Hunter said on Fox News about his wife, Margaret. “But I didn’t do it. I didn’t spend any money illegally.”
The Hunters pleaded not guilty Thursday morning to federal criminal charges that they swiped $250,000 in campaign cash to live a lavish lifestyle far above their means.
They were indicted earlier in the week and accused of spending the money on luxuries including a $14,000 Italian vacation, dentist bills — and even a plane ticket for their pet rabbit.
“My campaign did make mistakes,” Hunter admitted in the Fox interview. “There was money spent on things not by me but by the campaign, and I paid that back before my last election.”
He said that when he was deployed to Iraq, he gave his wife power of attorney.
“I’m saying when I went to Iraq in 2003, the first time, I gave her power of attorney and she handled my finances throughout my entire military career and that continued on when I got into Congress. Because I’m gone five days a week, I’m home for two,” he said.
The Hunters are accused of conspiracy to commit offenses against the US, wire fraud, falsification of records and prohibited use of campaign contributions.
Hunter, who is running for re-election in November in what is considered a safe GOP district in San Diego County, claimed the charges were politically motivated.
“This is pure politics and the prosecutors can make an indictment read like a scandalous novel if they want to,” he said about lawyers for the Justice Department, headed by Republican Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“They’ve had a year and a half to do this. There’s no way for me now to go out and be able to talk to my people or get this done in court before my election. They’ve had this for a long time. This is a late hit,” he told the network.
Hunter did admit that he said “F–k the Navy” after his request for a tour of a naval base in Italy — a cover story for the family vacation — was turned down.