Former Republican congressman Duncan Hunter won’t serve any time in prison for spending campaign funds on video games and other personal items for his family.
Hunter is one of 15 convicted criminals to receive a full pardon from President Donald Trump earlier this week. The son of prominent Republican politician Duncan Lee Hunter served as a US Representative for California’s 50th congressional district from 2013 until resigning in early 2020 after pleading guilty to misusing campaign funds.
Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after it was found out that he spent over $250,000 in campaign funds on luxury hotels, vacations, and other personal expenses. He even purchased plane tickets for his pet rabbits, named Eggburt and Cadbury. However, the politician never began his stint behind bars as the COVID-19 pandemic delayed his imprisonment until January 4, 2021.
Back in 2016, the congressman’s spokesperson claimed that Hunter’s son used his credit card to purchase $1,302 worth of games and that Hunter was looking to get the charges reversed before paying back the campaign account.
Hunter, who became infamous for vaping, has been a defender of gaming and has said that violent games are often used as a scapegoat.
“The narrative that children and young adults today stare at television and computer screens, developing lethal skills through first-person gaming experiences, disingenuously portrays video games as having a corrosive influence,” Hunter penned in Politico. “The problem with this rationale is that it conveys an image that America’s youth are incapable of discerning right from wrong, which simply is not true.”
As a result of the pardon, Hunter cannot be tried for his crimes again.
