Rep. Duncan Hunter has formally submitted his letter of resignation to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying he will vacate his congressional seat on Jan. 13.
In the letter, posted to Twitter on Tuesday, the Republican made no mention of his December guilty plea on charges of misusing at least $250,000 in campaign funds. Instead, he touted his military service, noting he enlisted in the Marines after 9/11, and his congressional work.
“After three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, I was elected to the House and brought with me lessons I learned during my service in the Marine Corps and the values instilled by my father who held this seat before me,” Hunter wrote.
“During my time in Congress, I had the privilege of helping thousands of individuals in my district — from making sure veterans received the benefits they earned, to helping Social Security and Medicare recipients cut through red tape, to assisting immigrants seeking legal citizenship, and countless others going up against the IRS, ATF or other government agencies,” the Californian added as he noted his past accomplishments.
The San Diego representative was charged with his wife, Margaret, in August 2018 for spending campaign funds on family vacations to Italy and Hawaii, tuition for their children, theater tickets, groceries, restaurant bills, dental visits and even plane tickets for their pet bunny, Eggburt, to travel alongside them.
Hunter initially slammed the indictment as politically motivated and brought on by “partisan Democrat prosecutors,” before his wife began to cooperate with investigators as part of a plea agreement in June 2019 — which required her to testify against her husband.
After pleading guilty, however, Hunter sought to spin the plea as a result of him making “mistakes.”
“I failed to monitor and account for my campaign spending. I made mistakes, and that’s what [pleading guilty] was all about. So, that being said, I’ll have more statements in the future about the future.”
California prosecutors slammed his comments, saying his crimes were “not about mismanagement of his campaign.”
“Congressman Hunter himself misappropriated his own campaign funds for the use of himself and his family,” using those funds “as a piggy bank to float a lifestyle they couldn’t maintain,” Assistant US Attorney Phil Halpern, who was part of the prosecution team against the embattled politician, said in response.
As part of his guilty plea, Hunter faces up to five years behind bars. Halpern said his office would seek a prison term of at least one year.
