Calif. Congressman Questioned for Video Game Charges to Campaign

Rep. Duncan Hunter says his son mistakenly used the wrong credit card.

ByABC News
April 6, 2016, 3:14 PM

— -- Rep. Duncan Hunter, the California congressman who recently used his vaporizer at a committee hearing, is being questioned by the Federal Election Commission for spending more than $1,300 in campaign funds on video games.

In his year-end campaign finance filing, Hunter, a 39-year-old San Diego Republican, listed 68 individual purchases from Steam Games between October and December of 2015 as “personal expense – to be paid back.”

The FEC has asked Hunter’s campaign for more information on the video game spending, according to a letter from the agency, which was first reported by the San Diego Tribune, and has requested that his campaign seek reimbursement and amend its finance report.

Joe Kasper, a spokesman for Hunter, said Hunter’s son mistakenly used the wrong credit card to pay for video games online, and that the company has been charging the account after the congressman tried closing access to the site last summer.

Hunter’s third-quarter campaign finance report lists several payments to Steam Games in June and July as “personal expense – to be paid back” or “mistaken purchase – to be reimbursed.”

A request for comment on the payment dispute from Valve, the Washington software company that runs Steam Games, was not immediately returned.

The FEC is also asking Hunter’s campaign to clarify a $1,650 payment listed in his finance report to the Christian Unified Schools in San Diego. Kasper, Hunter’s spokesman, said the charge was a donation that was incorrectly labeled as a personal payment.

Members of Congress are required to use campaign funds for “bona fide campaign or political purposes only,” according to the House Ethics Manual.