Earnie Grafton/Reuters
Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department, the House Ethics Committee revealed Thursday. The probe surrounds alleged campaign finance violations, which Hunter has denied. Hunter was one of the first members of Congress to endorse Donald Trump during last year’s campaign. Last year, Federal Election Commission filings revealed that Hunter improperly used campaign funds to pay for videogames and tuition for his children’s school. Hunter’s lawyers told The Daily Beast that once Hunter became aware of the campaign finance issues, he repaid the campaign $60,000. “Congressman Hunter intends to cooperate fully with the government on this investigation, and maintains that to the extent any mistakes were made they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional,” the lawyers, Elliot S. Berke and Gregory A. Vega, added. The probe does not involve allegations of official misconduct.