Special Episode: Duncan Hunter pleads guilty to misspending campaign finance funds

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, admitted his guilt Tuesday in a yearslong campaign-finance scandal and now awaits his sentence. The U.S. Marine veteran all but ended his political career during a brief hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan, admitting to a single count of conspiracy to convert campaign funds to personal use. When asked how he now pleaded, he said, “Guilty.” Hunter faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced March 17, but he is likely to receive much less time behind bars. Outside the courthouse, federal prosecutors said they opened their case after reading about Hunter’s campaign spending in a story in The San Diego Union-Tribune, and they specifically named reporter Morgan Cook.