Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.) and his wife were indicted in August on suspicion of using campaign money to pay for lavish vacations, meals, alcohol, clothes and even family visits to the dentist. In all, Hunter and his wife allegedly spent more than $250,000 in campaign money on personal expenses.
There's some irony in the charges, however. Although the behavior may strike many observers as greedy, from a legal perspective Hunter's mistake was not that he indulged his taste for luxury using donations from the public. Rather, it was that he simply drew from the wrong pile of donated money.
Had the money for Hunter's vacations come out of his leadership PAC rather than his personal campaign committee funds, there probably would be no scandal.
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