ON POLITICS

California Rep. Duncan Hunter under DOJ investigation

Jessica Estepa
USA TODAY
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

The House Ethics Committee on Thursday deferred its probe into the alleged misuse of campaign funds by Rep. Duncan Hunter at the request of the Justice Department.

The Justice Department makes such requests when it is conducting its own investigation.

The California Republican may have used tens of thousands of dollars from his congressional campaign committee for his personal use, according to an August 2016 report from the Office of Congressional Ethics. The expenses may have included paying for family travel, flights, utilities, health care, school uniforms and tuition, jewelry and groceries.

Per OCE, if Hunter did use funds from his committee, he may have violated House, rules, standards of conduct and federal law.

The ethics committee in December decided to continue its own review of the matter.

Elliot Berke and Gregory Vega, attorneys for Hunter, said in a statement that Hunter last year "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," the statement said.

Hunter intends to cooperate fully with the government on the investigation, according to Berke and Vega. Additionally, he "maintains that to the extent any mistakes were made they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional."

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington likened the situation to that of former Rep. Aaron Schock, who was indicted last year for allegedly defrauding the government of more than $100,000.

"Rep. Hunter has shown a blatant disregard for the rules, spending tens of thousands of dollars from his campaign for his personal benefit," Noah Bookbinder, the group's executive director, said in a statement. "This is the most egregious Congressional spending scandal since Aaron Schock. We are glad to see the Office of Congressional Ethics voted unanimously for an investigation and will be closely following the FBI’s criminal investigation in Congressman Hunter."