Rep. Duncan Hunter: Ethical Issues Raised

Liberty Belle

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Thu Dec-29-05 09:57 PM
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Rep. Duncan Hunter: Ethical Issues Raised

Note to mods: This is my article and I give permission to publish it in its entirety. Original published today in the East County Californian newspaper, which unfortunately has no website. -- Liberty Belle

CRITICS CONTINUE TO SLAM HUNTER FOR STANCE ON WAR;

ETHICAL ISSUES RAISED OVER TIES TO DELAY , CUNNINGHAM CO-CONSPIRATORS, & A TOP AIR FORCE OFFICIAL

Constituents delivered a petition signed by 1,000 people to Congressman Duncan Hunter’s office in El Cajon, urging the House Armed Services committee chairman to support an exit strategy for bringing troops home from Iraq.

“We’re here today because we no longer believe what President Bush says regarding Iraq,” said William McRae, regional coordinator for MoveOn, organizer of a peace vigil and rally held outside Hunter’s office on December 14th. “More than 2,000 U.S. soldiers are dead,” he added, noting that the White House plans to seek another $100 million from Congress to fund the war. “We’re here to say, `No more.’”

Approximately 50 people participated in the peace vigil, though more had signed up. Organizers complained of a “dirty trick” played on peace activists via a fake e-mail purporting to come from McRae. The e-mail, sent to participants, falsely claimed that the time and place of the event had been changed. (An e-mail server has taken action against the sender but declined to reveal the sender’s identity to MoveOn, McRae informed this reporter.)

Hunter, whose son has served in Iraq with the U.S. military, has been a staunch supporter of the war. Hunter’s aide, Joe Kasper, stated that the Congressman is spending time with his family over the holidays and was unavailable for comments, despite a one-week deadline. However, a September 13th letter from Hunter to a constituent stated, “I firmly support the President’s decision to enter Iraq and I am pleased with the steps we are taking to secure Iraq as a democratic and representational state.”

But critics accused the Republican Congressman of representing interests of defense contractors and campaign contributors who are profiting off the war.

“I’m concerned about Representative Hunter’s conflicts of interests,” said Democrat Karen Marie Otter, an Army Veteran running for Hunter’s seat. “He accepted almost $250,000 from missile defense contractors,” she said, noting that Hunter’s largest contributor, Titan, has been implicated in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. “He has accepted money from co-conspirators in the Cunningham case and who are now subpoenaed in the investigation of Tom DeLay.”

THE HUNTER-DELAY CONNECTION

Earlier this month, Hunter invited defense industry lobbyists to a campaign fundraiser for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay at $1,000-$5,000 a plate – after DeLay was indicted by a Texas grand jury on money laundering charges.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/04/AR2005120400895.html ) Hunter, who donated $6,000 to DeLay’s legal defense fund (www.citizen.org, www.tray.com )voted with DeLay 95% of the time in Congress from Jan. 1 2004 to March 31, 2005 (www.cq.com). He also voted to weaken House ethics rules, benefitting DeLay (http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll006.xml ).

TIES TO CUNNINGHAM CO-CONSPIRATORS

Hunter received $22,700 from Wilkes Corp/ADCS and $7,000 from MZM Inc. from 1995-2005, ranking among the top recipients of funds from co-conspirators in the former Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham scandal. Cunningham has pled guilty to accepting bribes from those sources.

Hunter has since donated funds from the Cunningham co-conspirators to a charity benefiting wounded Marines, according to Kasper, who added that all of Hunter’s contributions have been “ethical and legal.”

HUNTER VOTES AGAINST TORTURE BAN
Hunter is also drawing criticism for obstructing efforts to halt torture of prisoners. During delivery of the anti-war petition, Barbara Cummings of Spring Valley stated that she had seen Hunter on CNN again last week insisting that prisoners in U.S. custody are being well-treated and well-fed. “It’s really embarrassing to have Mr. Hunter constantly talking about lemon chicken dinners,” she said.
Wendell Cutting, chief of staff at Hunter’s district office, responded, “I’m sorry that you’re sorry people are being fed good food.”
The next day, Hunter told MSNBC he planned to oppose an amendment introduced by Senator McCain to ban “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” of anyone in U.S. government custody.
Hunter later voted against the torture-banning amendment, which passed both houses of Congress by overwhelming margins.
HUNTER PROPOSED TURNING OVER NATIONAL PARK TO MILITARY
Opponents have also criticized a measure introduced earlier this month to turn over public lands in Channel Island National Park to the U.S. military. Hunter’s proposal called for the land to be utilized for training special forces as well as for military recreation, including hunting. The Congressman later withdrew the proposal.
ANTI-WAR MEASURES INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS
“Anyone, even Republicans as red as a beet, should still want to talk about an exit strategy from Iraq,” said Kelly King, co-founder of the San Diego After Downing Street Coalition. She cites growing evidence that the Bush administration intentionally misled America into war by presenting false intelligence to Congress and the American people, including the Downing Street Memos, British government documents leaked to the media. (www.afterdowningstreet.org).
Several war-related resolutions have been introduced into Congress, ranging from measures calling for troops to be brought home to several resolutions calling for investigation into pre-war intelligence. “One of those lost by two votes,” King said. “Guess what? Two Democrats didn’t show up.” New resolutions are expected to be introduced soon and have a strong chance of winning passage out of committee, she said, adding that After Downing Street is establishing “scorecards” for people to keep track of how their Congressional representatives stand on those resolutions.
PEACE SUPPORTERS SPEAK OUT
“As a veteran, I see this as worse than Viet Nam,” Cy Perkins, a constituent of Hunter’s, said. “It took most Americans many years to realize Viet Nam was a big mistake, whereas with this one, we realized it before it started. Iraq is a tragic mistake.”
Methodist Pastor Peter Moore-Kochlacs, who ran against Hunter in 2002, noted that Hunter outspent him by $750,000 to $5,000. Hunter also outspent Brian Kelliher, his Democratic opponent in 2004, by about half a million dollars to $15,000.
The Pastor criticized Hunter for approving large sums for war funding while voting to cut funds for MediCare and other services to help the poor.
“I am a Christian, but all holy people believe that we should treat their neighbors well,” he added.
OPPONENT CHALLENGES HUNTER TO REFUSE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DEFENSE INDUSTRY
“I made the decision to not accept contributions from defense contractors in this time of war, and I challenge Rep. Hunter to do the same,” Otter said at the peace vigil. “What do the defense contractors expect from him?”
Otter called on Hunter to support an exit strategy from Iraq, citing the 2,151 dead and more than 15,000 wounded U.S. soldiers to date. “We want him to fight for our troops as aggressively as he fights for contracts for defense contractors,” she concluded.

HUNTER’S CABIN OWNERSHIP WITH AIR FORCE ACTING DIRECTOR
RAISES ETHICAL QUESTION

Hunter shares ownership in a Virginia cabin with Pete Geren, who served as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Air Force from August through early November, RawStory.com reported last week. (http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Congressman_tied_to_contractors_bribery_coconspirators_1214.html) Hunter has co-owned the cabin with Geren since 1996, Federal Elections Commission disclosure forms filed by Hunter reveal.

Previously, the Associated Press identified Geren as a former Democratic Congressman from Texas. But RawStory reported, “no publication has yet revealed that the powerful House Armed Services Committee chair has been bunking with the chief procurement officer for a branch of the armed services.”

Geren replaced former Air Force Secretary James Roche, who resigned in the wake of a procurement scandal over an Air Force officer steering lucrative contractors to Boeing. The Washington Post published internal Air Force e-mails indicating that a deal to convert passenger planes into military refueling tankers leased from Boeing amounted to a “bailout” for Boeing. The White House blacked out references to Congressional members who pressured the Pentagon to back the deal, which was ultimately scrapped. Scandals involving the Boeing tanker deal led to criminal convictions of two Boeing executives for illegally negotiating a job for an Air Force contracting officer who held sway over a multi-billion dollar contract sought by Boeing. USAF acquisition official Darleen A.Druyun was also prosecuted and jailed.

Hunter pocketed $19,800 in campaign contributions from Boeing between 2001-2006. He has also been a strong adovocate for Boeing in Congress. On June 5th, the Chicago Tribune reported, “Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) quietly attached an amendment to the Defense Department budget bill last month that would effectively eliminate Airbus from a future tanker bidding competition, leaving Boeing as the only available option for a contract that could be worth billions of dollars.” The Tribune found Hunter’s staunch support “especially noteworthy given Boeing’s recent troubles.”

RawStory summed up the issue in a nutshell: “In short, President George W. Bush replaced an Air Force Secretary who resigned over a Boeing procurement scandal with a temporary stand-in whose hunting pal and cabin-mate is the powerful Congressman pushing the same deal on Boeing’s behalf.”
Geren stepped down November 9, replaced by Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, who is also implicated in Boeing controversies. A report by the Pentagon’s Inspector General blamed Wynne for allowing Boeing backroom deals to occur outside of formal Pentagon procedures and for misleading auditors at the White House budget office regarding the Boeing deal.
Additional questions have arisen over properties owned by Hunter.

Hunter recently paid off a $250,000-$500,000 construction loan to rebuild his home in Alpine, which burned during the 2003 Cedars wildfire, federal disclosure forms indicate. The home is currently in framing stages. Asked how Hunter was able to pay off such a sizeable loan, Kasper said he didn’t know. Records indicate portions of another property were sold recently, though the amount does not appear sufficient to fully fund paying off the large loan.

So where the money come from? Just two years ago, Rep. Hunter had the second highest level of credit card debt of any Congressional member, listing five accounts with a total of $75,000 to $250,000 in debt.

Questions also arise over the value claimed by Hunter for the cabin co-owned with Geren. In June, 2003, Hunter valued a cabin and 23.5 acres in Warren County, Va., at $65,002-$150,000, according to the Washington Post. (In 2004, he listed the cabin with 50 acres—roughly doubling the property’s size and value at $150,000- $350,000 . Hunter’s 2005 FEC report indicates he sold three parcels of the Warren County property for $300,000-$600,000 and paid off $420,000-$1,000,000 in loans. This year, he lists the value of the property, with two homes, at $550,002 –$1,100,000. So even after selling off a portion, the land has doubled or tripled in value from the prior year.

Congressman Hunter did not return calls or respond to questions e-mailed a week ago by the East County Californian. Aide Joe Kasper stated that the Congressman is “spending time with his family during the holiday season” and was unavailable for comments.