A federal judge ruled Monday that prosecutors can introduce evidence of Rep. Duncan Hunter’s personal relationships, including alleged affairs, in his criminal trial.

U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Whelan deferred until a hearing scheduled for Monday his ruling on a handful of other key motions, including a request to move the trial outside of San Diego County because of unflattering news articles, and a motion to dismiss the case outright based on the prosecution’s alleged violation of constitutional protections for legislative materials and official actions.

Whelan said the motions were filed late last Friday and he needed time to read and consider them.

Hunter, R-Alpine, is accused of improperly spending $250,000 in campaign dollars on personal expenses. He and his wife, Margaret Hunter, were originally indicted on 60 criminal charges and pleaded not guilty.


Margaret Hunter changed her plea to guilty of one count of criminal conspiracy, which included an agreement that she and her husband knew they were breaking the law by making personal purchases with campaign donations.

Margaret Hunter did not attend the hearing Monday. Hunter was accompanied by his attorneys and his father, former congressman Duncan Lee Hunter. The former Congressman said he was there to make the press aware of what he described as evidence of prosecutors’ political bias. He declined to comment on any other subjects.

Prosecutors have denied their investigation was politically motivated.

× Rep Duncan Hunter Jr. was met with protestors outside Federal Court in San Diego California after a motions hearing on Monday. He has been indicted for alleged misuse of campaign funds.


Last week prosecutors filed a series of motions, including one that spelled out some of Duncan Hunter’s questionable expenditures that prosecutors said were linked to his extramarital affairs with five women, including three lobbyists and two congressional staffers.

Hunter’s defense attorneys argued in a response last Friday that prosecutors can’t prove those expenditures were not for legitimate political purposes.

“Just as with Mr. Hunter’s platonic relationships, his friendships often blur the line between personal and professional, which is a widespread occurrence in modern politics,” the filing states.

“However unpopular the notion of a married man mixing business with pleasure, the Government cannot simply dismiss the reality that Mr. Hunter’s relationships with Individual’s 14-18 often served an overtly political purpose that would not have existed irrespective of his occupation.”


The women Hunter is alleged to have had affairs with were identified in court documents by numbers, not names.

Whelan said Monday that prosecutors can use evidence of personal relationships in court but they should work on their wording to avoid undue prejudice.

Because Margaret Hunter has agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, Duncan Hunter’s attorneys last week also sought to limit what she could say in testimony about her husband, in light of spousal privilege.

Whelan said he is not yet ready to rule on whether she can testify and will defer the matter until trial.


Outside the courthouse Monday morning, several protesters held signs with messages including “Google Duncan Hunter ethics.” One of the protesters was dressed in a rabbit costume and held a sign that said, “Free Eggburt,” a reference to a pet rabbit prosecutors said Hunter flew across the country at his campaign’s expense.

Court records prosecutors filed late last week disclose the existence of a second pet rabbit, Cadbury. Cadbury was the “official office” rabbit who lived in Hunter’s Capitol Hill office but did not travel by air on the campaign’s dime, according to court filings.

Regina Wilson, 64 of Ramona, was among the protesters outside the courthouse Monday. She said she was there to make sure Hunter was aware of his constituents’ concerns.

“I’m very concerned about Duncan Hunter’s behavior and I want him to understand that it’s not just the press who’s involved in this, but ... his constituents are really concerned,” Wilson said. “We need to be heard.”


The group of about a dozen protesters swarmed around Hunter as he left the courthouse, chanting “shame” as he made his way to a waiting sport utility vehicle.

Ammar Campa-Najjar, a Democrat running against Hunter in 2020 after an unsuccessful attempt to win Hunter’s seat in the 2018 election, also appeared outside the courthouse Monday. He said he was there at the request of some of his supporters.

Hunter is slated to be tried in September.