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SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife Margaret used more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses including groceries, fast food meals and golf trips and lied about it in campaign filings, prosecutors said Tuesday. Here are details of some of the payments described in the 48-page indictment filed in federal court:
—In 2015 Hunter told his wife he wanted to buy a pair of "Hawaii shorts" but had run out of money. She suggested that he "buy the shorts at a golf pro shop so that they could falsely describe the purchase later as 'some (golf) balls for the wounded warriors.'" That same year he attempted to set up a day tour of a U.S. naval facility in Italy in order to justify the use of campaign funds during a vacation with his family. When the proposed date didn't work out, he allegedly told his chief of staff, "tell the navy to go f(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk) themselves."
—Margaret Hunter spent $700 in campaign funds toward an overdue balance at their family dentist. In order to conceal the illegal payment, she allegedly told the campaign's treasurer it was charitable contribution to "Smiles for Life."
— In May 2015 the Hunters spent $999.68 on a family Mother's Day brunch and items from the gift shop at the famous Hotel del Coronado near San Diego. A year later Hunter spent more than $560 in campaign funds on dinner and drinks with his mother at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House in Washington D.C.
— After Margaret Hunter spent $25 in campaign funds to pay for prescription medication, she falsely told the treasurer that the money was for a "gift card donation to church family." She later changed her story and claimed the charge was for "Applebee's Restaurant — Republican Women."
— On more than 200 occasions between 2010 and 2016, Margaret Hunter spent a total of more than $5000 in campaign funds at fast food restaurants including In N' Out, Carl's Jr. Jack in the Box, Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, La Salsa, Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Wienerschnitzel, KFC and Menchie's Frozen Yogurt. To conceal at least one of those illegal charges, she told the treasurer it was for a "meal on campaign go."
— When the treasurer warned that "campaign funds may not be used for a leisure outing at which the discussion occasionally focuses on the campaign," Duncan Hunter asked the treasurer if he was "trying to create some kind of paper trail" on him.
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