Duncan Hunter’s attorneys look to delay trial by over a month

Lawyers for embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) are reportedly seeking to push back his trial on corruption charges from Sept. 10 to Oct. 29.

According to The Associated Press, his lawyers are slated to make the request to Judge Thomas Whelan during a district court hearing on Tuesday, arguing they are waiting for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on their motion to dismiss the case.

Whelan previously threw out a request to dismiss the 60-count indictment.

{mosads}His defense’s pretrial motion to dismiss the case alleges it was politically motivated, noting that two district attorneys who brought the case against Hunter attended a fundraiser for former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. 

Hunter’s attorneys have also sought to move the trial outside of San Diego. 

Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, were first indicted in August 2018 on multiple counts including allegedly misusing at least $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses such as trips to Italy and Hawaii.

Both initially pleaded not guilty, but Margaret Hunter later reversed her plea to conspiring to misuse campaign funds. An attorney for Duncan Hunter has said his wife’s guilty plea won’t impact his case.

Federal prosecutors allege that Hunter used campaign funds on numerous occasions to cover expenses while he had extramarital affairs with five different women. 

Hunter also faces accusations of falsifying campaign records filed to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by mischaracterizing expenses as “campaign travel” on multiple occasions, according to the indictment.

Hunter was stripped of his committee assignments following the indictment.