It just doesn’t add up.

Rep. Duncan Hunter says the indictments handed down on Tuesday against him and his wife, Margaret, are the result of a “deep state” conspiracy among “partisan Democrat prosecutors.”

There’s a problem with that. The indictments related to the alleged personal use of $250,000 in campaign funds had the approval of high-level Department of Justice officials, all Republicans.

Starting locally, the prosecution of the Hunters is happening under Adam Braverman, a Republican who is the interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. He was appointed in November 2017 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, also a Republican.


Hunter has based much of his claim on the fact that two federal prosecutors involved in the investigation — Alana Robinson and Emily Allen, both registered Democrats — attended a 2015 fundraiser for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

He has every right to raise questions about that. The U.S. Attorney’s Office response that they attended at the behest of the Secret Service was curious. Former U.S. Attorney Charles LaBella didn’t doubt the truth in that, but told The San Diego Union-Tribune he never recalled any such protocol of prosecutors needing to be at a fundraiser in all his years as a federal prosecutor.

The Department of Justice or the Secret Service owes Hunter and the public a more detailed explanation of this. Before the indictments, Hunter’s attorney Greg Vega asked that the local U.S. Attorney’s Office recuse itself from the investigation because those prosecutors attended the fundraiser.

Vega sent the letter making that request not to Braverman, but to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, also a Republican, in Washington, D.C. Vega wanted to meet with Rosenstein, but was denied. Both the local office and the Justice Department in Washington rejected the recusal request.


Like President Donald Trump, Hunter has lashed out at Rosenstein, claiming he is part of a politically motivated crowd out to get the president and people who support him. Rosenstein is overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and numerous people tied to Trump.

Mueller, also a Republican and former FBI director, has long been a target of criticism by Trump and more recently by Hunter, who is not under investigation by the special counsel.

The president has focused his ire on Rosenstein because he launched the investigation by naming Mueller as special counsel. Sessions recused himself and was not involved.

This is where Hunter’s story really falls apart.


Sessions has not recused himself from the Hunter investigation. Any notion that an attorney general doesn’t sign off on an indictment of a sitting congressman is just plain silly. The same goes for the FBI’s participation in an investigation of a member of Congress. FBI Director Christopher Wray, another Republican appointed by Trump, certainly would have pulled the plug if he didn’t think it was legitimate.

Late last month, Hunter began honing his conspiracy case in a short House floor speech. He didn’t mention Sessions or Wray, but accused Rosenstein and others of being part of a cabal.

In addition to adopting the commander in chief’s conspiracy theory, Hunter has also taken up some of the president’s language, becoming something of a Trump Mini-Me. Hunter has claimed to be the victim of a “witch hunt” by “leftist government thugs.”

Rather than federal prosecutors, Hunter’s real problem appears to be people close to him — perhaps his wife, former or current aides, or others who, to use Trump’s lingo, may have ratted him out. Many of the rich and stunning details in the indictment appear to come from Hunter insiders.


Regardless of what happens, Hunter’s political future is in serious doubt.

He either loses re-election in November, wins but agrees to step down in a plea agreement or gets convicted and has to step down. Even if he is acquitted in a trial, his image would be so tarnished and the Republican leadership so fed up with him that there likely would be a prominent GOP candidate with no baggage but lots of support to take him on in 2020.

One more thing about the alleged conspiracy that doesn’t wash. First, if you don’t think there is one, suspend your disbelief and buy into it for a minute. Let’s say there is a deep-state effort to put the Democrats in power. It would make sense to try to undermine the president, the most powerful person on earth, and maybe key members of the administration and Congress.

But Duncan Hunter? He’s essentially a backbencher with virtually no high-profile legislative accomplishments. He isn’t a committee chairman nor is he in the top leadership ranks. For years, his standing has been colored by his personal behavior (vaping during a committee meeting, alleged carousing and drinking). A 2014 survey of House aides by the Washingtonian ranked Hunter as the top “party animal” in Congress. His father, the former congressman who essentially handed the seat off to his son, was a revered figure and constant presence in the region. His son, not so much and less so.


The criminal investigation of Hunter began at least a year and a half ago and must have cost who knows how many hundreds of thousands of dollars. And this is supposed to be part of an effort to take down the Republican-controlled government?

Sorry, he’s just not that important.