House ethics panel reviewing Duncan Hunter allegations

San Diego Union-Tribune

Dec. 15, 2016 2 PM PT

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The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics is reviewing allegations against Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and will announce its course of action in the next Congress, according to a statement the committee released Thursday.

The committee’s announcement was a required status update on a report received from the Office on Congressional Ethics, an independent body that reviews allegations of ethical violations by members of Congress and their aides. The Office on Congressional Ethics report to the committee has not been made public.

A Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed a complaint with the office in April, asking it to investigate Hunter’s apparently personal use of campaign money. The Office of Congressional Ethics had not previously disclosed whether it was investigating the allegations.

In its announcement Thursday, the Ethics Committee said it received a report from the Office of Congressional Ethics on Aug. 31, 2016. The committee’s announcement noted that “the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee.”

“This is all standard process for OCE referrals,” Joe Kasper, Hunter’s chief of staff, wrote Thursday in response to The San Diego Union-Tribune’s questions about the announcement. Kasper noted that Hunter has already reimbursed his campaign committee for more than $60,000 in expenditures the campaign identified as mistaken, personal, or inadequately supported.

Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for the nonprofit that made the complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics — along with a separate request for review by the Federal Election Commission — after the FEC and The San Diego Union-Tribune began questioning the campaign spending in April, said the announcement was encouraging.

“We’re glad to see that they’re continuing to investigate him,” Libowitz said. “There are a lot of very serious issues that we alleged in our complaints and the fact that they did not dismiss and are taking more time can always be seen as a good sign.”

Libowitz added that the fact that the Office of Congressional Ethics referred the matter to the committee for review means the office “found substantial reason to believe that Hunter violated the law.”

Since last year, Hunter’s campaign has reported spending thousands of dollars on items including video games, an oral surgeon, his children’s private school tuition and travel to Hawaii.

Federal law forbids spending of campaign funds for personal purposes or benefit, to guard against corrupting influences by donors. In Hunter’s case, defense contractors and others with interests before committees on which he serves are his primary contributors.