SAN DIEGO _ A legal advocacy group has asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to look into Rep. Duncan Hunter's "endorsement of private vaping products in blatant disregard of the House Ethics Rules."
A letter this week from the American Democracy Legal Fund claims that Hunter, R-Calif., is too close to the vaping and electronic cigarette industries. The group often targets Republicans but has also filed complaints against liberals such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
In an email, Hunter spokesman Michael Harrison said the attack is baseless. Hunter did nothing improper, Harrison said.
"Congressman Hunter appreciates and supports the fact that the vaping industry is focused on harm reduction, meaning that vaping is an important tool utilized by many people to help reduce the harmful habit of smoking," Harrison said.
The advocacy group said in a statement that Hunter has crossed an ethical line.
"The rules are there to ensure that members of Congress don't use their positions of power to favor specific companies, brands or industries or to benefit themselves or their personal interests. Congressman Hunter has violated the letter and spirit of rules against such activity and the Office of Congressional Ethics must investigate his blatant flouting of these rules immediately," the legal fund's president, Brad Woodhouse, said in an email.
The legal fund's complaint alleges Hunter has violated House ethics rules by becoming "too closely affiliated with the vaping industry, creating the appearance that he is accruing benefits and dispensing special favors for the industry" and endorsing specific vaping products.
The legal fund's letter said Hunter:
�� Asked President Donald Trump to repeal or delay the implementation of Food and Drug Administration vaping regulations.
�� Asked the Navy to re-evaluate the service's ban on vaping on ships, a prohibition the service implemented out of concerns of overheating electronic cigarette batteries.
�� Spoken at a vaping conference in Texas and appeared in an online video with a vaping advocate where he promoted vaping.
�� Endorsed specific brands of vaping products while on Capitol Hill. At one point, in a post on an online forum, he said he had passed out a vaping company's business cards, which he received along with their products, and had convinced "staffers" and security guards to buy their wares. He called the product in question a "huge, manly, vaping machine."
While not mentioned in the legal fund's complaint, Hunter was also featured in an advertisement promoting the Vape Showcase trade show in Texas. Hunter's official position in Congress was mentioned and a picture of Hunter wearing his House pin was included.
Records show that the congressman has received $7,200 from American E-Liquid Manufacturing Standards Association board members and the group's lobbyist, Larry Flick, in 2016 and 2017, according to a Union-Tribune review of financial reports.
People connected to the electronic cigarette and vape industry also have given Hunter's campaign at least $39,461 since 2015, records show. Lobbyists representing the vaping and tobacco industries, among other clients, gave Hunter at least $19,750.
Brendan Fischer of the nonpartisan Washington-based Campaign Legal Center, said that Hunter's vaping-related activity raised some questions about how he is using his time, but it didn't necessarily cross ethical lines.
"All of this indicates Hunter's close relationship with the vaping industry, which I don't think is a secret," Fischer said. "It's not something he has tried to hide. The question is whether it implies an official endorsement. This doesn't seem to rise to that level."
