Hunter should prove to be easy prey for prosecutors

SAN DIEGO -- Will Rogers never met a man he didn't like. And, apparently, Duncan Hunter Jr. never took an oath he didn't violate.

The San Diego-area congressman -- whose personal and professional lives ought to be cordoned off by little orange cones due to poor judgment -- allegedly broke most of the vows he swore to his wife, his country and his constituents.

This week, the Republican walked into a federal courthouse and rolled the dice on a last-ditch attempt to skirt punishment for his sins.

The disgraced lawmaker is accused of misusing more than $250,000 in campaign funds to support a lavish lifestyle. Between 2010 and 2016, he and his wife, Margaret, allegedly dipped into the till to pay for expensive vacations, private-school tuition, dental bills, football tickets and other goodies -- all while their personal checking account was repeatedly overdrawn.

Last year, Hunter -- an ex-Marine who did three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan -- tried to save his own skin by putting his wife in harm's way. He claimed that she kept the books.

Now the congressman is pleading not guilty and claiming the federal indictment -- which includes charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and falsifying records -- is due to a misunderstanding.

What he needs to understand is how much hot water he is in given that his wife has already turned state's evidence.

Last month, Margaret Hunter agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and admitted -- in a 22-page guilty plea -- to conspiring with her husband to "knowingly and willingly" use campaign funds for personal use.

As for the roll of the dice, the congressman's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case because, they claimed, it was politically motivated. Two assistant U.S. attorneys who helped put together the case against Hunter attended a 2015 fundraiser for Hillary Clinton and posed for a photo with her. Meanwhile, Hunter was one of the first members of Congress to endorse then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016.

Hunter and Trump are kindred spirits. Neither lets the fact that he doesn't understand the first thing about immigration stop him from exploiting it for political gain. Hunter supports a border wall and opposes legal status for the undocumented. Once he even suggested that we deport the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, aka U.S. citizens.

Clearly, this dimwit is not going to win the spelling bee. More than once, Hunter swore to defend the Constitution. Yet, it seems, he still hasn't read it.

For his part, U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Whelan didn't buy the claim that Hunter is the victim of political persecution.

Whelan denied the motion to dismiss the charges. He also struck down another motion to move Hunter's trial -- which is now scheduled for Sept. 10 -- to a different venue because, his lawyers worry, the jury pool in San Diego has been tainted by extensive media coverage of this right-wing soap opera. They preferred a place that was more solidly pro-Trump.

That's chutzpah. Here you have a guy who pockets $174,000 per year to represent people that he now refuses to be judged by. What a prince.

Of course, those who have followed this case already know that -- regardless of the outcome of the criminal trial -- Hunter has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion of being a creep, a louse and a serial philanderer.

Prosecutors recently accused Hunter of using campaign funds to cover the expenses incurred by five extramarital affairs with lobbyists and aides, including pricey dinners, hotel rooms and a ski trip.

You know a lowlife is beyond redemption when he won't even pay out of pocket for his own moral failings.

Hunter is old friends with entitlement. No doubt, he only got this far in life because of his first and last name. His father, Duncan Sr., served in Congress for 28 years, representing the same area before retiring in 2009. That's when Duncan Jr. basically inherited the seat.

Quite a family. Both Hunters opposed affirmative action for people of color because, they said, achievements should be based on merit. What do they know about that concept?

Even if Hunter is convicted, he won't be automatically removed from office. That will take a two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives, which means getting buy-in from nearly 60 Republicans in addition to all 235 Democrats.

Duncan Hunter Jr. treated his decade in Congress like a frat party. One of the few serious things he did was consistently oppose "amnesty" for lawbreakers. Given how his privileged yet pathetic life has turned out, that is one position he might want to rethink.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.