SDG&E Refused to Cooperate in Duncan Hunter Ethics Inquiry
An Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) report on Congressman Duncan Hunter has been released, and it’s a doozy.
Last week he avoided the spectacle of a trial in criminal court via a deal reducing his 60+ indictments to one guilty plea.
Hunter returned to Washington and tried to act as though nothing happened. His House colleagues broke the news to Hunter that, having pled guilty to a felony with a sentence of more than two years, he wasn’t eligible to vote anymore.
His promise of a resignation “after the holidays” will allow Hunter to collect over $10,000 in pay for simply hanging out. The Republican with the best chance of replacing him, former 49th District Congressman Darrell Issa, is promoting the idea of a presidential pardon.
Given that the Congressman’s main defense was that he was the target of a witch hunt directed by supporters of Hilary Clinton, perhaps the president’s reelection campaign can get him a spot on the stage with the two pardoned war criminals now stumping for Trump.
Rob Pyers, research director for the California Targetbook, explained on Twitter: “If Hunter delays his resignation into early January, any vacancy would occur outside of the window for [Gov.] Gavin Newsom to schedule a potential special election primary to coincide with the March 3rd presidential primary, where Democratic turnout would be considerably higher.”
Congressional ethics investigators had held off on disclosing what they knew while criminal charges were pending. Now, they are no longer under any such obligation. And they’re not finished with the 50th District Republican.
San Diego Gas and Electric, four other entities, and a dozen other people (including Hunter & his wife) who refused to cooperate will be served with subpoenas in the coming days UPDATED--if the full committee follows the report's recommendations, -- compelling them to cough up documents and testimony.
UPDATE # 2-- SDG&E has sent out a letter saying as follows:
To protect customer privacy, SDG&E discloses personal information about customers only upon receipt of a subpoena or other judicially authorized demand for records. We are not aware of any subpoena or court order demanding Mr. Hunter’s customer records pursuant to this investigation.
(h/t Ken Stone @ Times of San Diego)
Forty seven other individuals and corporations did comply with requests for documents and interviews, ranging from the Arizona Grand Resort to the Starbucks Corporation.
Here are the relevant subheads from the report, which noted that there were likely additional incidents and evidence concealed due to the non-cooperation of the majority of Rep. Hunter’s current and former congressional and campaign staffers.
Rep. Hunter May Have Converted Tens of Thousands of Dollars in Campaign Funds to Personal Use
Rep. Hunter’s Use of Campaign Funds for Personal Travel
Rep. Hunter’s Campaign Committee Paid for Utilities and Maintenance Expenses for His California Home
Rep. Hunter’s Campaign Committee Paid Rep. Hunter’s Family’s Health Care and Educational Expenses
Further Evidence of Campaign-Funded Purchases for Personal Goods and Services
Purchases for Goods and Services with Misleading FEC Purpose Statements
Campaign-Funded Grocery and Meal Purchases
Rep. Hunter’s Credit Card Spending Practices
Concealment of Personal Purchases for Goods and Services
Examples of Bundling Campaign and Personal Purchases
Rep. Hunter and Mrs. Hunter’s Repayments to the Campaign Committee for their Personal and Mistaken Purchases for Goods and Services
Fifteen Individuals and Entities Represented by the Same Attorney That Refused to Cooperate with the OCE
CNN and other outlets are reviving some of the sordid details:
Hunter, who represents the northeastern San Diego area, had previously denied dipping into campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, including video games, an Italian vacation and groceries.
An unnamed staffer told investigators "that at some point after she no longer worked in the congressional office, Rep. Hunter kept a rabbit named Cadbury in his congressional office" that "had a cage in the congressional office," according to the report.
"Rep. Hunter and his wife repeatedly used campaign committee funds for flight costs with no clear campaign nexus, including the cost of flying a pet rabbit," the report states, adding that "in 2014 and 2015, Rep. Hunter's campaign committee spent $625.00 on five separate $125.00 'pet in cabin' United Airlines charges to fly a pet rabbit."
Rep. Hunter and fourteen witnesses identified in the report were represented by the same counsel, Elliot Berke.
Given the potential for conflicts of interest, the OCE asked Berke limit his representation to Rep. Hunter, Mrs. Hunter, the campaign committee, and only current employees of the campaign or congressional office. That didn’t happen.
Let’s go through all those named as refusing to cooperate with Congressional investigators, as described in the report:
San Diego Gas and Electric
The OCE requested information from San Diego Gas & Electric (“SDGE”) regarding accounts held by, or payments or transactions made or authorized by Rep. Hunter, Margaret Hunter or Duncan D. Hunter for Congress. The campaign committee reported payments to SDGE in October 2015.
Chevron Corporation
The OCE requested information from the Chevron Corporation (“Chevron”) related to Rep. Hunter, Mrs. Hunter and the campaign committee for gas station transactional history for Rep. Hunter, Mrs. Hunter or any account authorized by the campaign committee.
Allison R. Sadoian
Allison R. Sadoian worked as a Scheduler and then Deputy Policy Director for Rep. Hunter from January 2011 until January 2013.
Carly DeBeikes
Carly DeBeikes worked for Rep. Hunter’s congressional office from April 2013 until February 2015 first as a Staff Assistant, and later as Scheduler and Office Manager.
Campaign Consultants: The Gula Graham Group and Gilliard, Blanning & Associates Inc.
The Gula Graham Group is a political fundraising group that Rep. Hunter’s campaign committee has paid more than $500,000 in consulting fees to since 2009.
Gilliard, Blanning, & Associates, Inc. is a political consulting firm that has received close to $200,000 from Rep. Hunter’s campaign committee since 2009.
Sheila Hardison
Sheila Hardison was the Finance Director for Rep. Hunter’s campaign committee who was involved in planning events and fundraising.
Victoria J. Middleton
Victoria J. Middleton was Rep. Hunter’s congressional Chief of Staff from the beginning of his first term in office until December 2014. Prior to her service for Rep. Hunter, she worked as Chief of Staff in Rep. Hunter’s father’s congressional office.
Bruce Young
Bruce Young was the Treasurer for Duncan D. Hunter for Congress from the campaign committee’s first FEC statement of organization filing in April 2007 until early 2013.214 From at least January 2010 through February 2013, Rep. Hunter and Mrs. Hunter used an American Express card held in Mr. Young’s name.
Joseph Kasper
Joseph Kasper is Rep. Hunter’s congressional Chief of Staff and has worked for Rep. Hunter since his first term in office. Prior to working for Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, Mr. Kasper worked in Congress for Rep. Hunter’s father.
Rick Terrazas
Rick Terrazas is Rep. Hunter’s District Director and has worked for him since he was first elected.
Joe Browning
Joe Browning, is a long time Field Representative for Rep. Hunter who has also performed work for Rep. Hunter’s campaign committee.
Wesley Schermann Jr.
Wesley Schermann Jr. has worked for Rep. Hunter as his Special Projects Coordinator since April 2013 and prior to that worked for Rep. Hunter’s father.
Elizabeth M. Argo
Elizabeth M. Argo is Rep. Hunter’s Executive Assistant and has held that position since February 2015.
Chris Marston & Duncan Hunter for Congress
Chris Marston serves as the Treasurer for Rep. Hunter’s congressional campaign committee, Duncan D. Hunter for Congress.
The OCE requested information from Duncan D. Hunter for Congress and requested the opportunity to interview Mr. Marston.
Rep. Hunter and Margaret Hunter
The OCE requested information from and the opportunity to interview Rep. Hunter and Mrs. Hunter. Rep. Hunter and Mrs. Hunter refused to produce any information in response to the OCE’s requests for information and declined to interview with the OCE.
Meanwhile, a campaign to rehabilitate Duncan Hunter’s image is already underway.
From the Union-Tribune:
While his term is widely seen as coming to an ignominious end, supporters of Hunter and even one critic say the congressman’s work on military and veterans issues will be remembered.
Dan Summers, a longtime supporter of Hunter and chairman of the American Liberty Forum of Ramona, told the Union-Tribune he thinks people should know how much the congressman did for veterans and service members.
“You can’t go to Washington and do everything,” Summers said. “You go there and you do what you know — and what (Hunter) knew was the military and (Veterans Affairs). He put all his energy in it and he had an impact. That should be his legacy.”
…But Wait! There’s more!
Louis Russo, an Marine veteran from Alpine who was a California delegate for Trump, said he doesn’t think Hunter’s crimes are that serious.
“Duncan spends campaign money on stuff he shouldn’t — money that people gave him — and you guys want his head on a pike,” Russo said in an email to the Union-Tribune. “Duncan made some mistakes. Big deal.”
Russo said he hopes Trump intervenes in Hunter’s case as well.
“I am sure the president will see exactly what happened and conclude, as many here have, that losing his seat, his house, his wife and being embarrassed is punishment enough and will pardon him. This event with Duncan is so minor it (won’t) be remembered as early as next week.”
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