SAN DIEGO _ The U.S. House Committee on Ethics voted to defer its investigation of Rep. Duncan Hunter's campaign spending, saying Thursday that it will hold off on its probe at the request of the Department of Justice.
A report by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, released Thursday with the announcement, detailed allegations that Hunter, a Republican from the California city of Alpine, east of San Diego, used his campaign money for personal benefit in violation of House rules and federal law. The OCE referred the matter to the Ethics Committee in August for further review.
On Wednesday, the committee voted to defer action at the Department of Justice's request, which experts say means a federal criminal investigation is ongoing.
The Department of Justice has not made public the existence of an investigation, nor detailed what crimes it suspects Hunter or members of his campaign may have committed. Other lawmakers accused of personal spending have been indicted on charges including income tax evasion and making false reports to the Federal Election Commission.
Elliot S. Berke and Gregory A. Vega, attorneys for Hunter, provided a statement in response to the Ethics Committee's announcement.
"Last year, Congressman Hunter 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. "Congressman Hunter intends to cooperate fully with the government on this investigation, and maintains that to the extent any mistakes were made they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional."
The Ethics Committee released with its announcement Thursday a single-page report by the Office of Congressional Ethics. The single page is a summary of the full report, which was not released Thursday.
The summary report released Thursday says OCE voted 5-0 to recommend that the committee "further review the above allegations concerning Rep. Hunter because there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Hunter converted campaign funds to personal use to pay expenses that were not legitimate and verifiable campaign expenditures attributable to bona fide campaign or political purposes."
A description of the alleged violations included in the summary said, "Rep. Hunter may have converted tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds from his congressional campaign committee to personal use to pay for family travel, flights, utilities, health care, school uniforms and tuition, jewelry, groceries, and other goods, services and expenses."
The report goes on to say that, "If Rep. Hunter converted funds from his congressional campaign committee to personal use, then he may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law."
The OCE report is the result of a complaint the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, made in late April, after the FEC and The San Diego Union-Tribune began questioning what appeared to be personal spending of campaign money on video games and Hunter's children's private school tuition.
"Rep. Hunter has shown a blatant disregard for the rules, spending tens of thousands of dollars from his campaign for his personal benefit," CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement Thursday. "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."
Reports of exorbitant spending prompted CREW to file a complaint about Schock, R-Ill., and. As questions about his finances continued to mount, the congressman resigned in March 2015. He was later indicted in the District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
According to legal documents, he used campaign contributions as well as funds intended to run his Capitol Hill and district office to finance an upscale lifestyle. He filed fraudulent expense reports, bought a $5,000 chandelier, private flights, $29,000 worth of photography equipment, skybox seats to Chicago Bears football games, and fancy office furniture modeled after the televisions how "Downton Abbey." The latter prompted CREW's complaint.
Schock has pleaded not guilty to all 24 charges.
Since April, Hunter has repaid his campaign some $62,000 for expenses it identified as mistaken, personal or insufficiently supported. The expenses included oral surgery, a family trip to Italy, purchases from a Disneyland gift shop, and some $600 in airline fees for in-cabin transportation of one of Hunter's children's pet rabbit.
