This past March, James H. Hunter of Eagle, Idaho, made two $2,700 contributions to the campaign to re-elect his nephew, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Alpine.

Hunter’s campaign reported the contributions on a financial disclosure report to the Federal Election Commission, but claimed it did not know — and was unable to find out — his uncle’s employer or occupation.

The Federal Election Commission sent a letter to Hunter’s campaign treasurer this week informing him that “information requested per best efforts” is not an acceptable answer to the question of a contributor’s occupation or employer — information that was missing not just for Hunter’s uncle on Hunter’s campaign forms.

James H. Hunter and his wife, Jan, are the founders of Boise Hunter Homes, a development company they have headed for more than a decade, according to the company’s website and business filings. James H. Hunter is among more than 90 donors for whom Hunter’s campaign has reported employer and occupation as “information requested per best efforts” since 2007, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune’s review of FEC records. Their contributions totaled more than $67,000.


Hunter and his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret, were indicted in August on 60 counts of felony crimes including fraud and conspiracy to knowingly falsify entries in reports to federal agencies including the FEC. The couple allegedly committed the crimes to cover up more than $250,000 allegedly stolen from Hunter’s campaign over several years. The two pleaded not guilty to all charges at their federal court hearing in August and were quickly released on bond.

The letter this week regarding missing occupational information is unrelated to the criminal case — although the origin of the criminal investigation was a similar inquiry letter from the FEC about campaign reports. The FEC is asking Hunter’s campaign to amend its filings to add occupation information or to document its “best efforts” to gather the information.

The FEC letter on Monday questioned only the quarterly report from Hunter’s campaign covering April 1 to June 30. Hunter’s campaign must respond to the FEC by Nov. 13, the letter said.


While the FEC did not question specific donations, the Union-Tribune’s review of the disclosure for that time period found the campaign reported employer and occupation as “information requested per best efforts” for 16 donors who contributed a total $9,000.

The 17 donors represent about a fifth of the total individual donors disclosed on the second quarter report, and their $9,250 in contributions represent about a fifth of the $45,381 raised from individual contributions of $200 or more.

Donors for whom the campaign could not identify job and employer in previous reporting periods include six top-level executives for defense contractor Cubic Corporation, who contributed a combined $3,250 to Hunter’s campaign on the same day, March 28, 2016.

The next day, Cubic announced that one of its business units was awarded a $2.3 million contract from the U.S. Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence, Clarke Simulation Center at Fort Benning, Georgia, to support Live, Virtual, Constructive and Game-based (LVCG) training for mission command systems.


A spokeswoman for Cubic Corporation did not immediately respond to the Union-Tribune’s request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

“The occupation and employer information is very important to identify which special interests are supporting a candidate. If twelve people from the same company give the same amount on the same day, it’s fair to infer that the company supports the candidate by either holding a fundraiser for him or attending one,” said Brett Kappel, an attorney at Akerman LLP in Washington, D.C., and an expert in campaign laws and ethics rules. “In some cases, the occupation may be a clue that company employees may have been reimbursed for their contributions — not many busboys make $1,000 contributions. Without the occupation and employer information, the voters are left in the dark.”

To satisfy the FEC, Hunter’s campaign must demonstrate that it made two contacts with the contributor to request the information, Kappel said. If the donors did not respond or refused to provide the information, the campaign has met its responsibilities.

Michael Harrison, a spokesman for Hunter’s campaign, responded to the Union-Tribune’s questions about the FEC letter with a statement.


“Congressman Hunter and his campaign complies with all FEC requirements and regulations as it concerns the reporting of contributions and will continue to do so,” the statement said.

Hunter has served on the House Armed Services Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Education and the Workforce Committee. He has been stripped of his committee assignments pending the outcome of his criminal case. He is running for reelection this fall and is favored by numerous polls to win, although the race is closer than it would normally be for such a solidly Republican area as East County.


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morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com