The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized several electronic devices and records from the former offices of GOP representative Duncan Hunter’s (R-California) campaign treasurer during a raid in late February, according to a search warrant released this week. The raid was part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that Duncan misused campaign funds, Politico reports, including tens of thousands of dollars spent on video games, a family vacation to Italy, and dentistry bills.
Hunter has faced campaign finance scrutiny since August of 2016, when news reports suggested he had used campaign money to pay for personal expenses. Though he and his wife (who managed his campaign) subsequently reimbursed his campaign more than $60,000, Hunter still became the subject of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. In March of 2017, the committee made public a separate Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into Hunter’s use of campaign funds when it announced it was putting its own investigation into the campaign on hold while the DOJ probe continued.
Hunter has yet to comment on the newly released court documents, but, in March, his lawyers responded to news of the DOJ investigation with a statement that said: “Last year, Congressman Hunter became aware of expenditure issues confronting his campaign committee. Out of an abundance of caution, he took corrective action in consultation with the [Federal Election Commission] and, ultimately, he and his wife personally repaid the campaign approximately $60,000,” according to CNN.
The search warrant was not yet supposed to be released, according to Politico, and was only made public this week due to an error.
