SAN DIEGO — U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, whose district includes two-thirds of Temecula, says he will plead guilty Tuesday, Dec. 3, to a charge of misusing campaign funds and has indicated he will leave Congress.

The California Republican is facing federal corruption charges he looted campaign cash to finance vacations, golf outings and other personal expenses.

He told KUSI television in San Diego in an interview that aired Monday that he is changing his plea to protect his three children from going through a very public trial.

“I think it would be really tough for them,” he said. “It’s hard enough being the kids of a public figure. I think it’s time for them to live life outside the spotlight.”

Hunter said he will accept whatever sentence the judge gives.

He said he wants his seat to remain in Republican hands and he will try to ensure a smooth transition, indicating he will be leaving Congress.

Hunter has served 11 years in Congress. He was re-elected last year after being indicted on federal corruption charges in the misuse of more than $250,000 in campaign funds.

Since then, several Republicans have jumped in to run against him.

Until now, Hunter has resisted calls to resign even after his indictment, which he called politically motivated.

Prosecutors revealed salacious details about the married congressman’s lifestyle, alleging that he used campaign money to illegally finance a string of romantic relationships with lobbyists and congressional aides.

Defense attorneys tried to get those allegations blocked by the court, but U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan ruled the allegations were relevant to whether campaign money was spent illegally and spoke to motive and intent.

Hunter, 42, is the son of former GOP congressman Duncan Hunter Sr., who represented Southern California for decades and ran for president in 2008.

Following 9/11, the junior Hunter joined the Marines and served in Iraq and Afghanistan as an artillery officer. The first Iraq and Afghanistan veteran elected to Congress, Hunter came to represent most of Temecula when redistricting shifted the city to his district in 2011.

He made headlines as an outspoken conservative and for antics such as openly vaping during a congressional hearing on whether to ban e-cigarettes from airplanes. An opponent of women serving in combat roles, Hunter once sarcastically offered an amendment to a defense-funding bill that would have required women to register for the draft, only to see it pass over his objections.

Hunter was one of the first members of Congress to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and lobbied the president on behalf of embattled military personnel such as Eddie Gallagher, the Navy SEAL acquitted on a court martial of murdering an ISIS captive but convicted of posing with the boy’s corpse. Trump intervened in Gallagher’s case to shield him from punishment.

While defending Gallagher, Hunter said his artillery unit “fired hundreds of rounds into Fallujah (Iraq), killed probably hundreds of civilians – if not scores, if not hundreds of civilians. Probably killed women and children, if there were any left in the city when we invaded. So do I get judged, too?”

The 60-count indictment against Duncan and Margaret Hunter detailed a long list of personal expenses illegally paid for with campaign funds, from online video games, groceries and fast food to dental work, theater tickets, vacations to Hawaii and Italy and even airfare for the family’s pet rabbit.

Prosecutors said the couple used their campaign account like a personal piggy bank and went to great lengths to cover up their spending. In one instance, Margaret Hunter told her husband to describe a purchase of shorts at a golf pro shop as “some (golf) balls for wounded warriors,” prosecutors wrote in court filings.

In a June plea deal, Margaret Hunter admitted to one count of misusing campaign funds and agreed to testify against her husband. In a Fox News interview shortly after his indictment, Duncan Hunter said his wife was responsible for handling campaign finances.

He also condemned the indictment as politically motivated for his support of Trump and portrayed himself as the victim of Democratic-leaning prosecutors. The indictment forced Hunter to give up his House committee assignments and limited his influence on Capitol Hill.

Hunter’s district – two-thirds of Temecula along with northern San Diego County – is one of the reddest in California. But with the indictment hanging over him, he barely won re-election in 2018 against Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, who is seeking a rematch next year and has consistently out-fundraised Hunter.

Hunter’s weak showing inspired conservative activist and talk show host Carl DeMaio and former GOP congressman Darrell Issa to run for Hunter’s seat in 2020. Pressure mounted on Hunter to resign, especially after the 2018 election cut the House Republican delegation in California from 14 to seven.

Staff Writer Jeff Horseman contributed to this report.