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Hunter and His Wife Set for Court Appearance

Embattled congressman calls indictment on campaign fund misuse a ‘witch hunt’

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has a court date Tuesday as his colleagues return to work in Washington. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has a court date Tuesday as his colleagues return to work in Washington. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife are set to appear in court on Thursday for their arraignment on charges of misusing campaign funds.

The California Republican and his wife, Margaret, were indicted on Tuesday for allegedly using $250,000 in campaign cash for personal expenses

In a statement, Hunter said his legal battle was politically motivated, NBC San Diego reported.

“One of the pillars of our country since its founding is that those tasked with enforcing the law would do so in an unbiased manner, allowing evidence to dictate how cases should run, with nothing impeding the rule of law,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is not the case today.”

Hunter also compared his legal troubles to the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, even using the same term — “witch hunt” — that President Donald Trump uses.

“For over two years, I have made myself available to cooperate with this investigation in any manner,” he said. “To date, I have not been asked one time to answer any questions or address any issue.”

Hunter is also scheduled to appear on Fox News’ show “the Story with Martha MacCallum” on Thursday evening.

But while Hunter faces a tough legal fight with less than three months before the election, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she was not optimistic about Democrats winning California’s 50th District.

“It remains to be seen as to who the people in the district will vote for,” she said at an event at the Public Policy Institute of California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“They may decide that their Republican desire for a tax cut overcomes everything else, but we’ll see,” she said.

Despite her reservations, she called Hunter’s Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, a “good candidate” without saying his name.

“But it’s a very difficult … it’s a very Republican district,” she said. 

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales offered a similar rationale for its decision not to change the rating for the race from Likely Republican.

Watch: House Ratings Change in Favor of Democrats

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