WASHINGTON _ Rep. Duncan Hunter's campaign has spent nearly half a million dollars on legal fees this year amid the ongoing FBI investigation into alleged misuse of his campaign funds.
Hunter's most recent report to the Federal Election Commission shows the campaign spent $134,794 with six prominent Washington, D.C., area and San Diego law firms in the last three months.
That exceeds the $91,446 the fifth-term congressman raised in the same three months for his re-election campaign. Democrats have declared the district a battleground for the 2018 midterm election.
Previous reports showed he spent $336,664 with seven law firms in the first six months of the year as the FBI looks at whether the Alpine Republican misused campaign funds.
Hunter can use campaign funds to pay for legal defense of himself, family or staff as long as the alleged crimes are related to the campaign or his job as an elected official.
Almost half the legal fees, $65,946, went to San Diego-based Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek, which has a variety of specialties. An additional $30,599 went to Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC of Warrenton, Va.
The House Ethics Committee disclosed the FBI's investigation in late March to explain why it was not pursuing its own probe of the San Diego-area congressman.
An FBI warrant to search the offices of Hunter's campaign treasurer, which came to light in August when most of the legal fees were incurred, indicated agents were looking for evidence showing whether Hunter's campaign funds were used for personal reasons, whether there was a scheme to defraud a bank over video game purchases, and whether Hunter's campaign finance reports were falsified to "impede or influence" FBI and House Ethics Committee inquiries into his use of campaign funds.
Hunter's attorneys have said he is cooperating with the FBI investigation.
The nonpartisan analysts at Cook Political Report recently moved Hunter's 50th District from "solid" to "likely" Republican, saying the FBI investigation could drag Hunter down, but Democrats privately acknowledge taking down Hunter will be a tough job unless he is indicted. Hunter's father previously represented the district, and 42.82 percent of voters there are registered as Republicans.
Two of Hunter's half a dozen opponents out-raised him this quarter, though with $504,456 in cash, the congressman still has a substantial financial advantage. As of Sept. 30, Democrat Josh Butner raised $175,146 and had $231,891 in the bank. Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar raised $170,304 and had $202,414 in the bank.
