Former Representative Duncan Hunter, the California Republican who was pardoned by former President Donald Trump in 2020, has agreed to pay a fine to the Federal Election Commission for misuse of campaign funds.
Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, his former campaign manager, said they would pay the $12,000 “only for the purpose of settling this matter solely and without admitting liability,” according to one FEC . document announced this week.
Hunter’s campaign committee agreed to pay a separate amount $4,000 fine.
The FEC said that due to his campaign’s “lack of financial resources,” the agency requested a smaller-than-usual fine, noting that it would normally seek a “significantly higher civil penalty” of $133,000 based on the violations.
A quarterly report from October 2021 revealed that the Hunter campaign has $14,000 in cash on hand and about $40,000 in debt, the FEC said, and the campaign appears unable to raise additional funds.
In 2019, federal prosecutors said Hunter and his wife “converted and stole” more than $250,000 using campaign money used for purchases such as family trips to Hawaii and Italy, plane rides for relatives and their pet rabbits, and even $1,500 for video games. Prosecutors said Hunter also used campaign money to pay for romantic relationships with lobbyists and congressional aides.
The couple claimed that many of the alleged violations were “attributable to the nature of a cohesive, family-run campaign”, and that many personal expenses had been reimbursed, according to an agreement signed with the FEC.
NBC News reached out for comment on the attorney representing the Hunter campaign committee.
Hunter pleaded guilty to misuse of campaign funds in December 2019 and resigned his House seat a month later after serving more than a decade in Congress. He was later sentenced to 11 months in prison.
His wife pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiring to misuse campaign funds and was expected to testify against her husband for more than 20 years if the case went to trial.
But as Trump neared the end of his presidency, he issued a series of pardons and granted Hunter and his wife a “full and unconditional” pardon for their criminal convictions.
2021 Transfer From the Federal Election Commission’s general counsel, he raised doubts about whether Trump’s pardon extends to civil crimes, arguing that the former president “limited the Hunters pardon text to a criminal case specifically,” paving the way for recent fines.
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