Some weeks back, I posted a story entitled “The Honorable Dumbass Duncan Hunter: Stupid and Corrupt, a Delightful Combination,” about the indicted California GOP congressman. The Justice Department alleged that Hunter — who represents part of San Diego County and has been a vocal supporter of the local defense industry — and his wife Margaret Hunter illegally diverted $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including to fund lavish vacations and their children’s school tuition,” the story said, citing Politico.
Hunter’s wife has already pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Why would she do that? Who knows, but perhaps because her husband is also suspected of “improperly using campaign funds to pursue numerous romantic affairs with congressional aides and lobbyists”
Read the story if you want to hear the defense offered by The Honorable Indicted Dumbass Hunter (“THIDH,” henceforth), which is that he’s facing the most “criminally political prosecutors” who for some weird reason have chosen to launch “a personal smear campaign” against him.
A bit before that I wrote another story that posed a simple question: Did the proud, erect head. Of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, have sex with an intoxicating intern and bill the group’s ad agency $39,000 for one day of shopping at a Beverly Hills clothing boutique, $18,300 for a car and driver in Europe and had the agency cover $13,800 in rent for his paramour a summer intern, according to newly revealed NRA internal documents”?
Short answer: Yes, he did.
OK, I have a good deal of unreported information but let’s deal with these cases separately, though there is a link.
First off, Hunter. Why are prosecutors out to persecute this innocent, upright member? Of congress.
Among other things, in January, 2010, he reportedly flew to Reno, Nevada, ostensibly to attend a convention for a nonprofit group called Safari Club International. After a brief stop at the convention, Hunter and the unnamed lobbyist — apparently Liz Williams, who listed Hunter, first, as one of her “other favorites” on her Facebook page — headed for a ski resort near Lake Tahoe, where they shacked up for a fun-filled weekend on the slopes and ordering room service, according to the prosecution’s filing. They say he used campaign funds to cover the costs of all of this important congressional business.
Also, the Safari Club International held its annual convention in Reno, Nevada between January 20 and 23, 2010. The Safari Club International PAC gave a $2,000 contribution to the THIDH on January 22, 2010, which they mistakenly (or not) reported as going to his father’s campaign committee. His father’s campaign committee closed in 2008, so it’s hard to understand such a mistake.To be honest, it looks like THIDH’s brief stop at the Safari Club International convention was to pick up a $2,000 PAC check to cover the costs of a weekend tryst with lobbyist Williams.
Williams was on the Safari Club International PAC board, so, if this story is accurate and of that I have very little doubt — she was directing PAC funds to the man she was sleeping with.
Willams, incidentally, works for Tauzin Consultants, headed by former Congressman Billy Tauzin from the notoriously corrupt state of Louisiana. Let me emphasize that just because Tauzin hails from a notoriously corrupt state doesn’t mean he’s personally corrupt. I’m sure many members of the Manson Family became good parents so don’t prejudge.
Furthermore, do not be influenced by the fact that Tauzin’s business model as a member of congress is encapsulated by his work as a capo for the drug industry. To sum up, he took tons of money from pharmaceutical firms, did their bidding like a loyal Louisiana hunting dog, and then for five years after retiring from public service served slavishly as the president and CEO of the powerful Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
For her part, Williams, according to this bio from Tauzin Consultants:
…started her career at the National Republican Congressional Committee raising funds for Members of Congress and Congressional candidates and has a strong, continued network of relationships at the NRCC and NRSC. She has also worked in the non-profit and private sector as a House Liaison at The Heritage Foundation. Liz served as a Federal Liaison at the National Rifle Association for over 5 years with the responsibility for advocating NRA’s federal interests to Members of the US Senate and House of Representatives. Most recently, Liz founded Williams & Company where she serviced clients across the legislative spectrum relating to, healthcare, federal appropriations, Department of Defense issues and Interior matters involving sportsmen issues. Liz gives back to the Capitol Hill community where she serves on the board of the Capitol Hill Club and is the past president of the Washington, DC Chapter of Safari Club International.
Now let’s deal with LaPierre.
Hold on, I forgot there’s more about THIDH and Williams.
Why am I so sure Williams was the lobbyist who the feds allege Hunter was having sex with? Because she sounds very much like “Individual 14” in the indictment of THIDH. Just look at some of the details from the lightly edited section of the indictment below:
In April 2009, Hunter met Individual 14 … who worked as a lobbyist and encountered Hunter through her work. The two began to socialize, and spent time together with the same close-knit group of friends. Their relationship soon blossomed beyond a mere friendship. Although the pair kept their romance under wraps, taking care to not be seen together in public, they found excuses for occasional outings or getaways together.
As the relationship grew more serious, Hunter began living with I-14 at her D.C.-area home. On occasion, Hunter used campaign funds to bring food or beverages back to her home. Hunter paid for outings with I-14 using funds that belonged to his campaign. In early 2010, the couple planned a ski vacation as one of their first solo getaways. On the afternoon of Friday, January 22, 2010, Hunter flew to Reno, Nevada, ostensibly to attend the annual convention of a large non-profit advocacy group. [Pro tip: Safari Club International.] The convention had begun a few days earlier, and I-14 was attending the meetings for her work.
Hunter’s flight landed at 2:10 pm, and he rented a car from the airport Alamo, using $351 in campaign funds. That evening, after a brief stop at the convention, Hunter drove to Heavenly Mountain Resort, a ski resort near Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, CA. By 11:39 pm, he had checked into their room at the Hyatt and visited the hotel’s Cutthroats Saloon for a Sam Adams (which he paid for with $7 in campaign funds).
Hunter and I-14 spent the weekend skiing, ordering room service, and enjoying the amenities of the full-service resort. They checked out on Monday, January 25, 2010, when Hunter paid the $1,008 hotel tab using campaign funds from his campaign credit card.
He spent another $180 in campaign funds on airfare back to Washington. Hunter continued using campaign funds to allow for other trips with I-14. In March 2010, for example, the couple took a weekend “double date” road trip to Virginia Beach with their friends, one of whom was also a congressman. Hunter spent $905 in campaign funds to pay for the hotel bar tab and room he shared with I-14 that weekend.
And he later sought and received an additional $257 in mileage reimbursement for the trip from his campaign treasurer—despite the fact that I-14 had driven the group to and from Virginia Beach.
Hunter and I-14 had other purely personal outings with the same couple, including, on March 24, 2010, when they had another “double date” at the Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, Virginia. There, they saw a Jack Ingram concert, and Hunter spent $121 in campaign funds on beer, nachos, and wings.
Hunter and I-14 ended their romantic involvement in approximately April 2012.
Following THIDH’s indictment, then House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that Hunter’s committee assignments would be revoked while the criminal case was pending, including his seat on the House Armed Services Committee. And if the indictment eventually forces Hunter from office one way or the other, it could have fallout for a number of the congressman’s areas of focus.
Hunter has been a vocal supporter of the local defense industry, especially drone maker General Atomics. Among many favors the “soon-to-be disgraced former congressman” did for the company was push the sale of General Atomics-produced unmanned systems to Jordan, including routinely writing letters over the past several years in that regard.
Coincidentally no doubt, the drone maker is Hunter’s single largest political donor over the course of his career, with the company’s political action committee and its employees donating a total of $100,750 to Hunter’s campaigns since 2007, according to figures from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Here’s another noteworthy fact or two. Beginning in 2016, Liz Williams and the General Atomics PAC both gave to Duncan Hunter every March – until this year. To take just one example, both this donation from Williams and this donation from General Atomics look like they may have been made during a 2018 drone maker event for Hunter.
Now let’s seriously turn the topic to LaPierre and Allen.
The NRA recently axed its long-time top lobbyist, Chris Cox, the hero who in 2004 helped repeal the decade old Assault Weapons Ban. My thoughts and prayers are with you Chris, you cocksucker.
But it wasn’t bad news for everyone at NRA headquarters last week. Megan Allen got a promotion! She took the next step on her meteoric rise within the NRA from intern to gift planning associate to the manager of the NRA Women’s Leadership Forum. Wayne LaPierre’s wife, Suzanne LaPierre, is the co-chair of the NRA Women’s Leadership Forum. What’s that old saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?
Anyway, I guess Wayne and Megan won’t be going on any more fundraising trips together. But hey, this is still America and even LaPierre and Allen should be able to reach their full potential using their God-given natural attributes.
Oh fuck, I forgot about the connection between these two allegedly sordid affairs.
Williams, who was sleeping with Duncan Hunter, lobbied at one point for the NRA, whose head, LaPierre, was sleeping with intern Allen. After she stopped lobbying for the NRA she went to work at Tauzin’s firm as a lobbyist for General Atomics, who owns her former boyfriend, Duncan Hunter. She is still apparently a lobbyist for General Atomics, so she, Hunter and the drone maker are a threesome that is fucking the country.
