Duncan Hunter on campaign funds indictment: ‘Leave my wife out of it’

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) on Tuesday told a reporter to “leave my wife out of it” as he discussed their recent indictment on charges of misusing campaign funds, days after he appeared to blame his wife, Margaret Hunter, for the charges.

“Leave my wife out of it. Leave my family out of it,” he said in an interview with 10News, an ABC affiliate in San Diego. “It’s me they’re after anyway. They’re not after my wife. They want to take me down. That’s what they’re up to.”

{mosads}Both Duncan and Margaret Hunter were indicted last week, charged with misusing at least $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses. Duncan Hunter is accused of using the funds to pay for trips to Italy and Hawaii, his family’s dental work, his children’s tuition and travel for relatives, among other personal expenses.

Hunter said in an interview on Fox News last week that his wife was responsible for the campaign spending.

“She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did, that’ll be looked at too, I’m sure,” Hunter said at the time. “But I didn’t do it. I didn’t spend any money illegally.”

Hunter has dismissed the charges against him as politically motivated, calling them a “witch hunt” on the part of the Department of Justice.

Hunter is up for reelection in California’s 50th Congressional District this November, when he’ll face off against Democratic challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar.