Hunting Hunter

15 Mar 2007 // An ethics watchdog is accusing Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) of improperly using his political action committee to further his presidential aspirations.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed papers Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission alleging Hunter violated campaign finance laws by running PAC-financed television spots in early primary states before formally filing as a presidential candidate.

CREW also alleges Hunter accepted excessive in-kind campaign contributions from his Peace Through Strength PAC.

Under campaign finance law, a candidate can test the waters for an election by using a limited amount of money from a separate campaign account, but CREW is arguing that Hunter abused that provision.

“Rep. Hunter jumped the gun on his presidential campaign by running ads before he had registered as a presidential candidate,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, in a statement. “By leveraging his leadership PAC to advance his ambitions, he has clearly violated federal election law."

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