By Doug Porter
Congressman Duncan Hunter is now being stalked by a pesky wabbit.
BunnyPAC.org is the website for a political action committee dedicated to focusing on Hunter’s campaign finance issues.
Created by Democratic political activist Shawn VanDiver, the site features the musings of Duncan Thumper: “Congressman Hunter’s first bunny, ethics advisor, and insightful political mind.”
The East County Congressman’s pet rabbit became famous following reports about campaign funds spent to fly him around the country. With first class accommodations, of course.
From BunnyPAC:
Listening to a bunny explain politics is as ridiculous as spending campaign money on personal enrichment. Join Duncan Thumper to explore why someone might do such a thing.
The fact is that when elected officials do ridiculous or foolish things, sometimes complicated nuance allows them to get away with it. The good news is that Duncan Thumper is an ethics advisor and a wonderful story teller.
A Man Can Only Vape So Much
Health-conscious Hunter hard at work…
Thumper’s most recent find (via Fusion) is a fascinating account of the Congressman’s virtual life, where he is apparently known as “uberjaeger.” (Jaeger is German for Hunter.)
This nom de L’internet frequented right-wing sites like Free Republic commenting on politics and such. He’s also a fan of vaping, contributing stream of unconsciousness threads to sites like the ScrewDriver forum and E-cigarette-forum.com, bragging about puffing away on airplanes.
From Fusion:
But Hunter’s not just here to talk politics. He’s also here to tell weird, rambling stories, with odd references to Freud and no apparent point. In a thread titled “San Diego Chargers and the Pen Style,” uberjaeger contributed this:
Hunter as uberjaeger png
Also of interest are uberjaeger’s posts on BodyBuilding.com, wherein he boasts about the effectiveness of a hamburger helper for his fitness regimen.
Again, from Fusion:
Here’s uberjaeger discussing his use of Lipo-6x, a weight-loss supplement product that my colleague Hamilton Nolan describes as “basically legal speed, and people take it either to suppress appetite or to get hype before they work out.” (Nolan went on to say, “If you ask me all you need is a cup of coffee and the heart of a lion.”)
The Fusion probe into Hunter’s virtual life came in response to the Congressman’s support for repeal of a set of Obama-era privacy rules stopping internet service providers (ISPs) from selling browsing data to advertisers without user consent.
Since the main lobbying group urging repeal told Congress “Web browsing and app usage history are not ‘sensitive information,’” it seemed appropriate to look into Hunter’s affairs.
Deluxe Legal Services
Also in the news…
The Union-Tribune took a look at Congressman Hunter’s campaign spending for the first quarter of 2017, noting he’s already spent more for legal services ($69,000) than he repaid his 2016 campaign ($62,000) for expenses identified as personal, mistaken or insufficiently documented.
The Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter’s campaign spending has forestalled a probe by the House Committee on Ethics.
The Congressman has denied any wrongdoing, telling Politico:
“I was not involved in any criminal action,” Hunter said in an interview Wednesday. “Maybe I wasn’t attentive enough to my campaign. That’s not a crime.”
However, the Marine Corps combat vet and five-term lawmaker declined repeatedly to say who was responsible for making the charges.
“I didn’t make any of those charges. None. None of those expenditures,” Hunter insisted.
The Union-Tribune broke out his legal expenses:
The new financial report shows Hunter’s campaign raised about $146,600 and spent about $182,000 during the filing period. About $51,000 went to an attorney the campaign has never before reported paying, Christopher Amolsch in Alexandria, Virginia.
Amolsch provides “aggressive federal and state criminal defense representation” throughout Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, according to his website.
The attorney told the UT by phone he was being paid to represent “some witnesses the government is looking to talk to.”
There was also $5,000 payment on March 10 to the law firm Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC (“white collar defense, government investigations, and enforcement.”) along with $13,400 to Berke Farah LLC, which specializes in political law.
That’s a lot of lawyers for a guy who’s not been charged with anything. Yet.
Italian Carrots Are Expensive
The BunnyPAC has kicked things off with an Easter-related direct mail campaign, seeking donations:
I understand one of my cousins may have visited your home this weekend delivering baskets full of delights for the children in your care. I trust the experience was pleasant. Normally, you only hear from bunnies leading up to the big show, as Easter is known among those of us in the business, but today is different. Today, I’m reaching out because integrity is important. I’m reaching out to ask for your help in my quest to explain campaign expenditures you may have heard of. My dad, Congressman Duncan Hunter, is being investigated by the Department of Justice for some questionable campaign expenditures. With your help, I can help explain why spending this money was just fine.
I wish I could explain these expenses with just my paws and some goodwill, but the fact is that this stuff costs money. Since Easter is over, I’m out of a job and need your help to cover the costs of the videos and printing I need to tell all of CA-50 my story.
The donation page on BunnyPAC offers up ideas on how contributions could be used:
Your donation today will make sure that the world hears Duncan Thumper’s perspective on each and every questionable expense.
$50 – Cover Duncan Thumper’s rabbit pellet costs for a week
$100 – Cover vaccinations for Duncan Thumper’s travels
$250 – Buy Duncan Thumper a new hutch. His dad had to sell the old one to cover “unexpected” expenses.
$600 – Help Duncan Thumper reimburse his dad for his flight
$1000 – Make sure Duncan Thumper has all the italian carrots he could hope for
$2500 – Cover the costs of a week at the Bunny Spa to reduce Duncan Thumper’s stress
$5000 – Buy Duncan Thumper a toy chest to keep him entertained while his dad is in jail
Meanwhile, in other non-Trumpian news of the absurd…
Martinelli Moves to Russia
The primary figure behind a campaign to declare California as an independent state has given up the ghost.
From NBC:
…the Yes California Independence Campaign faltered after its president, Louis Marinelli, revealed ties to Russia. Marinelli said in a lengthy message to supporters Monday that he is seeking permanent residence in Russia because of his “frustration, disappointment and disillusionment with the United States.”
The secretary of state’s office confirmed that Marcus Ruiz Evans, the group’s vice president, withdrew the California Nationhood ballot measure.
Martinelli drew 6.43% of the vote running against Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher in the 2016 primary.
Well, I guess he won’t be running against me again in 2018….. https://t.co/01vQ0FhnfC
— Lorena (@LorenaSGonzalez) April 18, 2017
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Doug Porter
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Somehow, we knew something like this would be forthcoming. Somehow… ;-)
(Unrelated query: Freeps column seems to have been absent, of late; technical difficulties, perhaps? I do enjoy reading it…!)
I have been trying to rule out things that might affect site performance. It’s back. Thanks for your feedback!
Just saw – lovely! Thanks… :-)