Rep. Duncan Hunter is allowed to use campaign funds toward his legal defense of charges that he misused hundreds of thousands in campaign funds for personal use, Roll Call reports.
And the California Republican is doing just that, to the tune of more than $600,000 to eight different law firms, Roll Call reports. Hunter and his wife, Margaret, were indicted earlier this week for spending roughly $250,000 on vacations and sundry personal expenses.
Hunter likely is allowed to use campaign funds in his defense under the FEC's irrespective test, which stipulates the ability to use campaign funds for expenses that someone would only incur because they have a campaign at all, Roll Call reports.
In other words, if Hunter didn't have a campaign, he would not have been able to allegedly misuse campaign funds in the first place, Roll Call reports.
Hunter and his wife on Thursday pleaded not guilty to the charges, and later Thursday Rep. Hunter dismissed the charges as politically motivated and a "late hit."
During that same interview on Fox News, Hunter also seemed to blame his wife, saying that he had given her power of attorney prior to being deployed to Iraq in 2003 when he was still a member of the Marines.
"She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did, that’ll be looked at too, I’m sure," Hunter said. "But I didn't do it. I didn't spend any money illegally."
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