Remember Duncan Hunter-- The Crooked Son, Not The Crooked Father?

Yesterday Morgan Cook and Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune reporters, took their readers out of COVID-19 head and back to political corruption for a few moments. Duncan Hunter, then the only Republican congressman left in the San Diego area-- snagging the seat when his just-as-corrupt father suddenly announced his retirement-- was caught by the FEC using large amounts of campaign funds for personal expenses. That resulted in a 2017 FBI raid on Hunters offices. A year later he and his wife were indicted on 60 counts of wire fraud, falsifying records, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy, having stolen upwards of a quarter million dollars from campaign funds and from a charity for wounded warriors. After it came out that Hunter was using some of the money on hookers-- and then tried showing his wife under the bus-- she turned against him and told the Justice Department all the dope on him-- and there was tons!

Although he was kicked off his committees by the GOP and urged to resign, he refused and never stopped claiming it was all a political witch hunt. He finally cut a really sweet deal with the prosecutors and entered a guilty plea in December of 2019, although he still claims he was innocent. He's scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday (March 17).

Cook and McDonald reported that all the time he was trying to mislead the voters about his criminal activities, he was also working hard to cover them up.

At the same time Hunter told national television audiences and local supporters that he did nothing wrong, claiming he was the victim of a witch hunt cooked up by his political enemies, hundreds of pages of evidence made public Tuesday show the congressman was actively obfuscating his role in the campaign finance scandal.

“Rather than admit his guilt and resign his seat in April 2016, when originally questioned, or even in August 2018, when originally charged, Hunter chose to mislead the more than 700,000 people who reside in the 50th congressional district,” the filing states.

“As we now know, Hunter lied to the people about his guilt. Not once but countless times,” the filing adds. “As a result of his duplicity, the voters were duped of their right to representation in Congress-- representation they are denied to this day.”

The assertions were included in a lengthy sentencing memo to Judge Thomas J. Whelan, who is scheduled to decide next Tuesday what penalty Hunter will receive in the wake of his guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy late last year.

Prosecutors agreed to a sentencing range of between eight and 14 months in federal prison, and argued in the court filing that the former lawmaker should spend 14 months in custody.

That's what I meant by a sweet plea bargain. The prosecutors should have asked for 5 years prison and a $250,000 fine, but they went shockingly easy on him and it's unlikely that he'll even spend a year in prison. That's part of white privilege crossed with elite privilege.

The government’s 87-page filing was accompanied by hundreds of pages of exhibits and other attachments that spell out a years-long pattern of relying on political contributions to pay routine household bills and to finance resort stays and other extravagant spending.

The 300-plus pages from prosecutors came as Hunter’s defense lawyers are trying for a second time to convince Whelan to dismiss the case against the congressman, or at least recuse two prosecutors in the case who had attended a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2015.

Defense attorney Paul Pfingst argued in a motion filed last week that Hunter was renewing his request for recusal or dismissal, which Whelan denied in July.

In that filing, Pfingst argued that newly obtained emails about the fundraiser deepened concerns that prosecutors were politically biased against Hunter, who was one of the earliest members of Congress to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

U.S. Government lawyers filed a second document Tuesday urging Whelan to again reject the notion that prosecutors were biased against Hunter, noting they were assigned to the event.

“The (prosecutors’) attendance was spurred and initiated entirely by the Secret Service,” the rebuttal stated. “The federal prosecutors were not there as supporters of Candidate Clinton.”

The same document notes that former U.S. Attorney Gregory Vega, who later defended Hunter in the criminal case, attended the Clinton fundraiser as a paying contributor.

Hunter, 43, and his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret, were named in a 60-count indictment in August 2018, accusing the once-powerful couple of misusing more than $250,000 in campaign contributions.

The 47-page indictment accused the husband and wife of beginning the illegal spending less than a year after they arrived in Washington D.C. in January 2009, when Duncan Hunter succeeded his father, also named Duncan Hunter, in Congress.

Margaret Hunter, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in June and agreed to testify against her husband. She is scheduled to be sentenced next month. Both Hunters are expected to receive significantly less than the five-year maximum sentence.

The newly published records show that Hunter and his wife were all but broke for most of the time Duncan Hunter served in Congress.

Despite the congressman’s privileged upbringing and a congressional salary of approximately $175,000 a year, the family overdrew their checking account more than 1,000 times in a span of just seven years, the sentencing memo states.

“There was in fact not a single month between 2009 and 2017 when the Hunter family bank account had a positive balance throughout the month,” the filing states.

One witness told prosecutors Hunter had to check his bank balance to buy a bottle of water. The same witness said Hunter’s father regularly supplemented his son’s income with frequent $1,000 payments, private-school tuition, extra funds for basic needs such as car repairs and even money for clothes.

“Hunter embodied the very definition of living paycheck to paycheck,” prosecutors wrote. “... It is also easy to see why Hunter would know that the only way he could afford to pay for basic family living expenses, lavish meals and luxury vacations was to use campaign funds.”

The sentencing memo also notes that as soon as Duncan Hunter arrived in Washington D.C. he became part of the capital city elite. He was invited to parties almost every night Congress was in session, the document notes.

Hunter met a woman at one such gathering in April 2009, and quickly moved in with the unidentified woman, prosecutors said. Later, the Alpine congressman used campaign funds to pay for a romantic weekend in Lake Tahoe, according to prosecutors.

Other court records show Hunter engaged in at least four other extramarital affairs, often subsidizing getaways with political donations to his congressional campaigns.

The sentencing memo also recounts Hunter’s frequent use of campaign funds to pay restaurant and bar tabs in Washington D.C. and in San Diego.

“Hunter rarely used his personal debit card to pay for meals or nights out,” prosecutors said.

The spending increasingly worried some members of Hunter’s congressional staff, but neither the congressman nor his wife tempered their spending practices despite warnings from the staff, the memo notes.

All the while, Hunter cast blame on others, including his wife and child, the memo says.

In 2016, after the San Diego Union-Tribune began asking questions about Hunter’s campaign reports, Hunter texted his chief of staff to say the questionable spending was not his fault.

“Dude, I’m not even sure hot (sic) to respond to this (expletive). I have no answer. My family (expletive) me,” Hunter texted chief of staff Joe Kasper. “...I have no idea what to say. And my marriage...”

The Union-Tribune report was picked up by national media, the memo notes, and Hunter and his staff quickly realized that their future campaign filings would be heavily scrutinized. Even so, the excess spending did not stop-- at least until the FBI raided Hunter’s home and offices in 2017.

Ironically, local Republicans have chosen another notorious crook, Darrell Issa, to run for Hunter's old seat in November. CA-50 hasn't had a Representative since Hunter resigned in January.

Last Year California Had 14 Republicans In Congress. Thanks To Trump There Are Now 7. Will Trump Preside Over The Loss Of 3 More Next Year?

Reshaping The GOP by Nancy Ohanian

Because California will be voting early in the cycle (March 3)-- right after Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the biggest state in the Union will play an outsized role in choosing the Democratic nominee. According to a poll of likely voters released yesterday by the Public Policy Institute of California, there's a virtual 3-way tie for the top spot-- and the state's senator, Kamala Harris, isn't part of it.

• Elizabeth Warren- 23%
• Status Quo Joe- 22%
• Bernie- 21%
• Kamala- 8%
• Mayo Pete- 6%

35% of likely voters approve of the job Trump is doing in the poll, not much different from the poll Morning Consult did in September in their Tracking Trump Across America project. Morning Consult found that 34% approve of the job Trump is doing and 62% disapprove, a 28 point deficit in California. Luckily for the GOP, there are no statewide elections for them to lose next year. As for congressional seats, that's another-- and more complicated-- matter.

California has 53 congressional districts and the Republicans are left with only 7, after the spectacular loss of 7 seats last year. This is what's left, along with the grievously out of date PVIs and their win numbers last year:

• CA-01- Doug LaMalfa- R+11-- 54.9%
• CA-04- Tom McClintock- R+10-- 54.1%
• CA-08- Paul Cook (retiring)- R+9-- 60.0% (against a Republican)
• CA-22- Devin Nunes- R+8-- 52.7%
• CA-23- Kevin McCarthy- R+14-- 63.7%
• CA-42- Ken Calvert- R+9-- 56.5%
• CA-50- Duncan Hunter- R+11-- 51.7%

The best Democratic candidate running against these clowns is Audrey Denney in CA-01. You can contribute to election-- and that of the other solid progressives taking on conservatives in California this cycle-- by clicking on the Make California Bluer 2020 thermometer on the right. But her district, like the other 6, looks prohibitively red. Audrey, who ran last year and had LaMalfa on the run, has much better name ID now and is running as strong a campaign. Last year she managed to match LaMalfa's fund-raising (a bit over a million dollars) and so far this cycle-- as of the June 30 FEC deadline-- she was outraging him, $436,252 to 347,614.

On paper, Nunes looks like a more likely target for Democrats (with the best PVI for a Democrat). But he's a money-machine among the GOP grassroots and brought in $12,619,096 last cycle, had $5,655,570 on hand as of June 30 and had already raised $3,072,399. There are 3 Democrats signed up for the primary, a meaningless status quo conservative backed by the DCCC, Phil Arballo, who had raised $129,161 by June 30 and two progressives, Bobby Bliatout ($11,781) and Dary Rezvani ($9,554).

But there really is no doubt which seat is the most likely to fall-- CA-50, where Duncan Hunter is only hanging on so he can use the seat as a bargaining chip with federal prosecutors in his upcoming trial. Last cycle he was seriously outspent by Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, $4,002,823 to $1,808,791, but managed to hold on 51.7% to 48.3% because Hunter ran racist/terrorist! TV spots against Campa-Najjar and because a disgustingly racist DCCC refused to get behind him, since he has a Muslim-sounding name. (He's a Christian.)

Campa-Najjar will certainly be in the general election but California's screwy jungle primary will determine which Republican he'll be facing. The race was complicated last week when Darrell Issa jumped into the primary against Hunter and bribed 5 other Republicans to drop out and endorse him. He can spend as much money as he wants-- having made millions as a car thief and general all-around fraudster-- but the San Diego Union-Tribune ran a SurveyUSA poll it commissioned that indicates Issa may not make it out of the March 3 primary. Duncan Hunter looks like a sure loser, so he'll try to cut a deal with prosectors as soon as he can. Who picks up his dumb-as-bricks supporters will be key for the Republicans.

In the poll, Hunter, with 11 percent of the vote, is trailing GOP opponents Carl DeMaio (20 percent) and Darrell Issa (16 percent) while lone Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, who narrowly lost to Hunter a year ago, leads with 31 percent.

...Among a subset of voters who said they are “certain” to vote, Campa-Najjar’s total increases to 34 percent and DeMaio’s to 22. Hunter’s support drops to 9 percent.

The 50th District covers a swath of the county east and north of San Diego, a region that has shown strong loyalty to the Hunter name for decades. Duncan L. Hunter Sr. served in Congress from 1981 to 2009, and his son Duncan D. Hunter is in his sixth two-year term.

His victory last year by just under 9,000 votes came about 10 weeks after he was indicted on federal charges of illegally spending $250,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting a trial scheduled for January.

In the poll, almost twice as many voters said they have a negative impression of Hunter as those who hold a positive view. Almost 60 percent said the evidence in the corruption case against him suggests “he may have broken the law,” while 13 percent believe the charges are “a partisan witch hunt,” which has been Hunter’s take on the prosecution.

Voters also said one of the most important issues for them is the “character of the candidate.” That tied in their rankings with border security and holding President Donald Trump “accountable for his actions.” Hunter has been a strong supporter of the president.

Other top issues: “rallying behind the president,” and climate change.

The 50th District has more registered Republicans than Democrats, and that was reflected in the poll. Of the likely voters surveyed, 44 percent are Republican and 30 percent Democrat; 24 percent are independent. Among the Republicans, DeMaio leads, followed closely by Issa. As the only Democrat in the race, Campa-Najjar was the overwhelming choice among those voters and also polled first with independents.

Campa-Najjar also scored well in the “character of the candidate” question, getting half the vote of those who consider that the most important issue, 31 points ahead of DeMaio. Three-fourths of the voters who ranked “holding the president accountable” as their chief concern favored Campa-Najjar, 15 times more than the next competitor.

But among the top four candidates in the overall poll, Campa-Najjar also had the largest percentage of voters, 32, who said they are “unfamiliar” with him. DeMaio was next, at 21 percent.

DeMaio, a former San Diego City Council member, and Issa, a former congressman, tied among voters who said border security is the most important issue.

Turn-out is expected to be sky-high among Democrats and Republicans as both bases turn out to either support or defeat Trump. If the Democrats nominate Status Quo Joe Biden, it could hurt the party's turn-out with progressives and activists who may choose to skip the election rather than backing a less-of-two evils candidate.

Wealthy Car Thief Darrell Issa Vows To Eat Duncan Hunter Alive And Spit Out His Bones

Issa (left) and Hunter (right)

We all love a good dirty brawl-- especially when the two dirty brawlers are so patently repulsive that you can literally hope they both rip each other's heads off. Welcome to California's 50th congressional district, First a little background on the district itself. It's an overwhelmingly suburban district, mostly (90%) in inland San Diego County, with a slice in Riverside County. It goes from Temecula in the northeast, skirts San Diego itself down thru Escondido to eastern El Cajon and then heads out into the desert where there's nothing but meth-manufacturers and a string of national wildernesses, state parks and a national forest. Its population is mostly white with a growing number of Latinos, almost a third now. The PVI is R+11 and Trump beat Hillary there 54.6% to 39.6%. Last year, though, something special happened that resulted in a near win for an unlikely Democrat.

Considering that in 2016, Hunter beat his Democratic opponent 148,880 (63.9%) to 84,142 (36.1%), you can imagine just how special what happened was. Short version: Hunter, a drunken, womanizing crook was caught stealing campaign money to use on living expenses, hookers and God-knows-what-else. He was arrested, indicted and kicked off his congressional committees but is still  refusing to resign in the hopes of using his membership in Congress as a bargaining chip when he makes his plea deal with the prosecutor.

His opponent from last cycle, Ammar Campa-Najjar, is running again-- as are at least seven 3 Republicans, Carl DeMaio, a hate talk radio host who was a member of the San Diego city council, state Senator Brian Jones and-- according to the San Diego Union-Tribune-- a whale among candidates, and someone who might even be more crooked than Hunter: former Congressman Darrell Issa. Issa retired from an almost-neighboring district last year rather than face certain defeat by a Democrat. And now the former richest and crookedest man in Congress wants back in.

This morning he announced at a press gaggle that he's not waiting for Hunter to retire voluntarily or to go to prison and that he's in it to win it. Candidates until this week, former Escondido Mayor Sam Abed, Temecula Mayor Matt Rahn, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells and retired Navy SEAL Larry Wilske, were all paid off by Issa to end their own campaigns and endorse him. Both Hunter and Issa are solidly allied with Trump.

Will A Court Allow Duncan Hunter To Avoid Prison Time In Return For Resigning From Congress? Darrell Issa Is Waiting

Drunkin' Hunter & DJ Trumpanzee

Duncan Hunter and his wife misappropriated at least a quarter million dollars from campaign funds to use for their lavish lifestyle. Hunter has decided his best defense was to blame his wife for stealing the money without his knowledge. The problem with that strategy is that he was using some of the money to pay hookers/lobbyists and carry on affairs with various women. But his lawyers have come up with a way around that damning evidence of malfeasance. They’re asking the court to exclude the evidence that he was using the stolen funds during extramarital affairs because the relationships with at least five women "often served an overtly political purpose."

The lawyers said the evidence would embarrass Hunter since it “reflects poorly on his character” and would prejudice a jury against him. I’ve never heard anything so judicially insane in my life. It’s like saying that evidence of the murder can’t be used because it would prejudice the jury against the defendant and reflect badly on his character and would embarrass him. Hunter is obviously at the end of his rope and is probably negotiating behind the scenes too resign from Congress in return for leniency.

Most of the facts about Hunter were widely know during the 2018 campaign. But Hunter still managed to win in a deep red (PVI is R+11, where Trump beat Hillary 54.6% to 39.6%) San Diego area district. It was a lot closer than anyone thought it would be— 134,362 (51.7%) to 125,448 (48.3%), largely because Hunter ran a smear campaign against Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, accusing him of being a Muslim terrorist, even though he is a church-going former Obama administration aide. This false ad was run over and over and over throughout the district, despite being denounced in the national and local media:




Hunter, an untreated alcoholic, is a racist and a rabid Trumpist, who claims he was the first member of Congress to have endorsed Trump. Before being kicked out of the Marine Corps reserves in 2017 Hunter asserted that the American intelligence community was filled with "seditious Obama folks" who "hate Donald Trump" and are trying to undermine the Trump administration. He also described the American government as "Orwellian.” After being indicted on 60 federal charges he was kicked off 3 committees by the House Republican leadership, particularly the Armed Services Committee where his presence was considered a national security risk.

Hunter’s wife has already pleaded guilty and is likely to testify against him if his case ever goes to trial. Meanwhile Campa-Najjar is running for the seat again. But he may never get to take on Hunter. The local and national GOP establishment is encouraging Hunter to resign and there are as many as half a dozen Republicans primarying him, including the mayors of Temecula and El Cajon. Lurking in the background is former congressman Darrell Issa, who was too scared to run last cycle in his own district but would like to get back into Congress to represent a much safer red district. Trump nominated Issa to head the U.S. Trade and Development Agency but he hasn’t been confirmed. Ironically, like Campa-Najjar, Issa is also of Arabic heritage.

Nor does he like in the district

Who Remembers Steve Stockman (R-TX)?

GOP congressional crooks Hunter and Stockman

We were sorry to see our pal Dayna Steele lose her race in TX-36 on Tuesday but proud of how strongly she and her team fought in her R+26 district where few Democrats would even try. She won just over a quarter of the votes there-- 60,486 (27.4%)-- her efforts turning out voters for Beto and other Democrats as well. In 2016 no one had run against Brian Babin at all and Hillary only took 25.2% to Trump's 72.0%. In 2014, the last time a Democrat did run there, Michael Cole got 22.0% of the vote and in 2012, Democrat Max Martin took 26.6%. Martin, though, wasn't running against Babin, but his predecessor, Steve Stockman. Remember Stockman at all? He was first elected to Congress in 1994, beating the dean of the Texas delegation, conservative Democrat Jack Brooks in a district that stretched from Galveston to Beaumont, including much of the southern part of what today is TX-36. He was defeated for re-election in 1996 having distinguished himself as Congress' foremost conspiracy theorist. He had claimed, for example, that the Waco siege had been orchestrated by the Clinton administration in order to prove the need for a ban on "so-called assault weapons."

After he left Congress, he ran for any electoral job he could find-- losing-- and finally got back into Congress again in 2012 in the brand new 36th district. Even though he had been driven into bankruptcy by caring for his father while he had Alzheimer's (and abandoning his father to die in a veteran's home) he still voted against the Affordable Care Act. After the Sandy Hook massacre he introduced a bill to repeal gun-free school zones, a subject so dear to him that he threatened to introduce articles impeachment against Obama over it. You get the picture, right?

Last year, he was arrested for the same old GOP trick that has Duncan Hunter in trouble now-- raising money-- in this case $350,000-- for a charity and then stealing it for himself. A couple of Stockman's staffers pleaded guilty to funneling even more money from from charitable foundations into Stockman's campaigns and personal bank account (at his direction).

On March 28, 2017, a federal grand jury issued an indictment that included 24 counts against Stockman, accusing him of obtaining $1.25 million under false pretenses and using the funds for his political campaigns-- 11 counts of money laundering, 8 counts of mail and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to make "conduit contributions" and false statements (conspiracy to conceal the real source of the contributions by false attribution), 2 counts of making false statements to the FEC, one count of making excessive contributions, and one count of willfully filing a false 2013 Federal income tax return by not reporting some of his income. Broke by then, he was assigned a court-appointed attorney for a trial that began last January.

In April, he was convicted on 23 of the 24 felony counts against him, judged to be a flight risk, and remanded into custody pending sentencing, which happened yesterday, the day after the election. Congressman Stockman was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to the Department of Justice, Stockman "used a series of sham nonprofit organizations and dozens of bank accounts" to launder the money. The government proved to the jury that Stockman ran his campaign and fraudulent charities to simply enrich himself. U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern District of Texas wrote in a press release that "this type of corruption by public officials gives our entire democratic system a black eye."

The day before, Republicans in CA-50 re-elected Duncan Hunter, Jr., a severe untreated alcoholic, indicted for almost the identical crimes Stockman is now in prison for. Hunter, the same kind of right-wing conspiracy theorist crackpot as Stockman, won reelection with 82,379 votes (54.3%), having smeared his Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, as a Muslim terrorist-- he is neither a Muslim nor a terrorist-- who was trying to "infiltrate Congress" as part of a terrorist plot. The GOP plan was to keep Campa-Najjar out of the seat and then replace Hunter when he is forced to resign from Congress, with Darrell Issa, another crooked Republican thief. What a party!

Touch Trump, See Your Life Turn To Shit

While he's rotting in jail, maybe Pastor Ramirez should try to understand HE locked up this baby

Yesterday, Kate Morrissey, reporting for the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote about a foolish right-wing pastor in Oceanside, Jorge Ramirez, an unauthorized immigrant who urged his American-born daughter to vote for Señor Trumpanzee in 2016. She did... and now Pastor Ramirez ended up in line for deportation. Even as he was thrown into the Otay Mesa Detention Center, awaiting deportation proceedings, he insisted that he's a Republican. Hey... if they have to deport people, it might as well be Republicans... they earned it.

But, no, Jorge is not in MS-13. Almost no deportees are. For all his bluster, Trump leaves the dangerous gangs alone and prefers to go after easy targets like children-- and the stupid pastor from Oceanside. It's hard to be sympathetic to Ramirez's plight. He's a real jerk and-- as horrible as it is to say so-- deserves what he's getting. He doesn't understand that to Republicans, he's a "one of the bad people" by definition.

Ramirez said he does not know why he is being targeted for removal from the U.S. The Trump administration has said that it is targeting criminals and those who have already been ordered deported. Ramirez said he falls into neither category.

"Trump said, 'Let's keep all the good people here and all the bad people out,'" Ramirez said.

"That's great, but I'm here," Ramirez said of his detention situation. "If I'm here, anybody can be here. I'm not saying I'm the best person in the world, but I've tried to live a good life."

Ramirez worked as a satellite television technician, and frequently went to Camp Pendleton. Issues with his security clearance brought him to the attention of authorities in December.

He said he supports the Republican agenda on fiscal and social issues and that he still supports President Trump.

"Everything that he's said against immigrants-- it's not that I'm in favor, but bad people don't belong here," Ramirez said. "In order to make America great, you have to have people contributing to this country."

Ramirez said he also encouraged his youngest daughter to volunteer with the campaign of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA).

Maybe God is punishing Ramirez for helping reelect this cancer on America

Ramirez came to the U.S. with his family when he was 11 and was raised in North County. In high school, Ramirez joined the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps for the Marines, and when the Gulf War began, he tried to enlist. The military would not let him fight because of his immigration status.

"I'm USA all the way," Ramirez said. "It's that American spirit. It just gets into you."

He said wearing his uniform twice a week helped him to feel like he belonged. He recalled his earliest experiences in school in the U.S., when he didn't understand what anyone was saying and other students would make fun of him.

When he worked as a satellite television technician, he always tried to show the Marines he encountered how grateful he was for their service, he said.

"They sacrifice so much for freedom and for us," he said.

The issue he has with the way immigration policy is currently being implemented, he said, is that since he's been in immigration detention, he's seen good people in there.

"To think that undeserving people are coming here makes me sad," Ramirez said.

Ramirez believes that going to immigration detention is part of God's plan for him. He prayed for a way to sort out his immigration status not long before he was arrested by Border Patrol.

Inside the detention facility, he's been counseling and supporting other detainees with a message of hope and love, he said. Since he began attending a daily Bible study group in the facility, its numbers have grown to around 25 from about 10, he said.

Ramirez has spent his life as part of the Apostolic Church, where he is a music minister. His father served as a pastor, a post that led to the family coming to the U.S.

Ramirez said he met his wife, Silvia, through church. They married 22 years ago.

Being away from her has been one of the most difficult parts of being in detention, he said.

Ramirez hoped to get released on bond Thursday at an immigration court hearing. His three children, all U.S. citizens, came with Juan Hernandez, the pastor for their church, to watch. They prayed in the waiting room as they waited for their father's turn.

His attorney, Ruben Salazar, said he felt positive about Ramirez's potential for bond and for getting relief from deportation when he presents his full case in immigration court.

"He's the kind of immigrant America seeks to have," Salazar said.

As the family was escorted into the courtroom, Judge David Anderson was telling Salazar that he would need more time to read through the 210-page packet that Salazar had submitted that morning to show Ramirez's ties to his community. It included several letters of support, records of Ramirez's tax filings, his school achievements and the awards that his children have won.

Anderson rescheduled the hearing for August, so Ramirez will have to wait in detention for at least six more weeks. Salazar objected, unsuccessfully arguing that the delay violated Ramirez's constitutional rights.

As his children filed out of the courtroom, Ramirez's face remained tight, not seeking eye contact or showing emotion.

Outside the courtroom, their pastor consoled the Ramirez children. He reminded them that there must be a greater purpose in this moment. They rehearsed lines to say to the Spanish-speaking media waiting for them outside. The youngest, Abisag, 17, volunteered to call their mother, who was waiting at home for news. By the time Ramirez has his rescheduled hearing, Abisag will be in New York for her freshman year of college.

Trump couldn't do it by himself. He needs people like Jorge Ramirez

Will Duncan Hunter Be On Trial Before Or After The Midterms?

Young Duncan Hunter was elected because most of the voters in the district thought he was his father, also Duncan Hunter, who resigned rather than go to prison with his crony and partner-in-crime Duke Cunningham. Hunter Senior, I wrote in 2005, had a hand in virtually every military scandal involving large sums of money that had gone down over the past 2 decades. He was a key participant in getting Air Force funds questionably diverted to his campaign contributor, Boeing (the bi-product of which was the disgrace and resignation of Air Force Secretary Jim Roche). Cunningham went to prison; Hunter and Jerry Lewis, a sleaze-bag Republican from a neighboring district, were allowed to retire. Now the folks who live in Temecula, Escondido and in the desert and mountains east of San Diego are stuck with Hunter, Junior, who learned his criminal behavior on his pappy's knee. Rachel Bade and John Bresnahan discerned what they could about the FBI investigation of the larcenous right-wing congressman.

The criminal investigation into Rep. Duncan Hunter is intensifying as a grand jury in San Diego questions multiple former aides about whether the California Republican improperly diverted political funds for personal use.

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Hunter’s parents, as well as a female lobbyist with whom many people close to the congressman believe he had a romantic relationship, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation.

The Justice Department is trying to determine whether hundreds of thousands of dollars from Hunter’s campaign account were spent improperly on his family and friends. Hunter already sold his home to pay back what even he now acknowledges were improper charges, moving his wife and kids in with his parents while he mostly lives in his Capitol Hill office.

...Three people with knowledge of the probe told Politico that Hunter's wife, Margaret, who acted as his campaign manager, is at the center of the FBI inquiry. Many of the alleged campaign charges in question-- including tuition payments for their children’s schooling and dozens of restaurant meals where no donor appeared to be present-- were made by Margaret Hunter, those people said.

But Hunter is also under intense scrutiny by the FBI and federal prosecutors. Federal agents have questioned his former staffers about whether thousands of dollars spent at Washington restaurants were legitimate campaign expenditures. They’ve also inquired about his relationships with several women in Washington, including one who worked in his office.

“He’s enjoyed his time in Washington-- probably a little too much,” said one House Republican lawmaker who has known Hunter for years but wants him to retire in order to protect the seat. “His wife supposedly had the campaign credit card, but that’s not an excuse. You can’t just blame your wife.”

...Hunter has developed a reputation on Capitol Hill for drinking heavily and carousing, according to multiple lawmakers and staffers who have witnessed his behavior over the past several years.

Former staffers to Hunter said he and his lawmaker friends-- dubbed the "bros caucus” by his aides-- would regularly go to the Capitol Hill Club, a Republican hangout, to drink beer, sometimes during the day. Congressional aides have recounted to Politico at least two stories of recent official meetings where lawmakers questioned whether Hunter was intoxicated.

In one December huddle between Republicans on the Armed Services Committee and GOP leaders, Hunter raised his voice at Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), accusing the Republican leader of undercutting the military with an irresponsible funding strategy. According to people who were present or heard about it afterward, members noticed his bloodshot eyes and speech and questioned whether Hunter was under the influence.

One Republican lawmaker said in an interview that he spoke to Hunter about his drinking habits and urged him to get evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder. Former aides to Hunter said other lawmakers approached Hunter on the same grounds.

...While Hunter was in Washington, Margaret Hunter was in San Diego taking care of their three children. She allegedly grew reckless in using the campaign credit card for personal use, according to sources familiar with the workings of the Hunter campaign. The Hunters’ most recent financial disclosure report, from May, lists no assets and between $60,000 and $115,000 of debt.

Margaret Hunter’s trips to shopping malls, surf shops and fast food restaurants are among the transactions the FBI is examining, according to sources close to the investigation. The Hunters repaid the campaign more than $60,000 in improper campaign charges, but federal prosecutors are interested in tens of thousands of additional charges, according to several sources and a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Hunter has run up huge legal bills as he tries to avoid a criminal indictment. FEC records show his campaign paid more than $535,000 last year to at least a half-dozen law firms to represent him and his staff in both Washington and California. Lawmakers are allowed to use campaign contributions to cover legal expenses.

The negative publicity surrounding the criminal investigation also has had an effect on Hunter's fundraising. In the last quarter of 2017, Hunter spent nearly $179,000 on legal fees, while raising less than a third of that total, roughly $51,000.

If Republican leaders are going to press Hunter to step down, they need to do it soon. California’s filing deadline is March 9. Hunter’s district is solidly Republican, but his legal troubles could make the race competitive in a Democratic wave election.

“There are some people who want” Hunter gone, said one senior Republican lawmaker. “That’s a fact. ... People don’t want to see any more baggage.”

...Hunter’s personal problems in Washington started early. While Hunter Sr. rarely drank and was careful never to be seen alone with another woman, Hunter was more carefree, said sources close to him.

At one point, then-Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) warned Hunter and his friends to cut it out and stay away from female lobbyists they’d frequently dine with at night. Hunter's father also called staff and members to check in on his son, said sources who know both men. (Hunter Sr. disputed this account, saying he’s never worried about his son’s drinking habits.)

The drama only increased when Hunter’s longtime chief of staff, Vicki Middleton, left the office in late 2014. Middleton, a “second mother” to Hunter in the words of one former aide, had worked for his father for years. And Hunter’s staff said he mostly behaved well in her presence.

Around that time, Hunter hired a young woman whom investigators have inquired about during their probe, sources familiar with the questioning said. Hunter promoted her from intern to full-time, a decision that perplexed staffers who said she frequently failed to show up for work and was hostile to co-workers.

Former staffers to Hunter said the atmosphere grew toxic because of the woman, who would text with Hunter and sometimes accompany him to the Capitol Hill Club. Multiple aides complained about her attire, saying it was inappropriate for a work environment. Two aides kept a tally of how many days of work she had missed. The woman would also show up uninvited at Hunter’s campaign events, including one in San Diego.

Despite mounting concerns within his office, however, Hunter refused to fire her. The nature of the relationship caused some of his staffers to question Hunter’s judgment.

At the same time, on the other side of the country, Margaret Hunter started using the campaign credit card liberally, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. In the spring of 2016, Hunter's staffers began to take a closer look at their campaign finances after a series of news reports about questionable charges, such as $1,300 in video game charges that appeared on Hunter's FEC report.

Multiple stories by California newspapers would later detail money spent on oral surgery, jewelry from Italy and, most memorably, $600 to fly a pet rabbit across the country. After further scrutiny, Hunter aides realized that was only the beginning.

Hunter in early 2016 brought in an outside law firm to do an independent audit going back to the date that Margaret Hunter received her campaign credit card. Hunter was expecting that the audit would turn up $20,000 in campaign expenses he would have to repay and was shocked when the firm found more than $60,000, according to one former aide. He told close associates it was his wife’s fault.

The FBI started inquiring about campaign transactions going back more than five years. Part of the investigation centers on possible falsification of FEC reports, including whether information was intentionally entered incorrectly to cover up purchases. Law enforcement is also looking at credit card fraud, since the campaign disputed the video game charges with the credit card company; investigators want to verify that the charges were indeed made in error.

Sources with knowledge of the investigation said Margaret Hunter didn’t keep many receipts because FEC reports don’t require that practice. So prosecutors have attempted to obtain the records from businesses, as first reported by the Union-Tribune.

Also under the microscope are campaign funds spent at myriad trips to grocery stores, shopping malls and stores like Pier 1 and Barnes & Noble. Investigators are trying to verify that money was actually used on campaign items. Also under scrutiny are numerous charges at fast food restaurants.

Law enforcement officials have also asked whether Hunter tried to configure his internal audit so that he could afford the amount he would have to pay back, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation.

Can the drunken, randy and sticky-fingered Hunter be beaten in November? Bade and Bresnahan wrote that "some Republicans are urging GOP leaders to force him to retire, worried that his troubles could cost the party another seat in its uphill effort to maintain the House majority." Issa, on the run from Doug Applegate, in the nearby 49th district, announced his own retirement, but has made it known that if Hunter doesn't run, he'll move east and run there. Trump beat Hillary 54.6-39.6% in the district, which has a PVI of R+11, the second reddest in the state (tied with Doug LaMalfa's) and slightly worse than Kevin McCarthy's.

Hunter, who has raised $454,806 and has just $290,904 cash on hand, has a Republican primary opponent, Shamus Sayed, who has raised $185,539 (mostly from self-funding). Hunter also has half a dozen Democrats vying for the seat including two well-funded contestants, Ammar Campa-Najjar, who has raised $504,928 and Josh Butner, who has raised $421,385. Each has about the same amount as Hunter does in his war-chest. Ammar Campa-Najjar is the progressive in the race and is leading Butner in every metric except the DCCC metric. The DCCC seems to see him as the more garden variety Democrat and leans in his direction.

Can A Progressive Former Marine Colonel Disloge Republican Crook Darrell Issa?

The slimiest of California's "Democratic" political consultants, slate vendor and ping-pong player Parke Skelton, is being paid a great deal of money to undermine Doug Applegate, in effect, guaranteeing that Darrell Issa retains his seat. I don't know exactly who's paying him but first, let's look at a little background. Issa, a former car thief and the richest member of Congress, was first elected in 2000. Currently his district spans northern San Diego County and coastal southern Orange County, from a thin strip of coastline in the northern reaches of La Jolla up through most of UC, through Torrey Pines, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas and Carlsbad up along the 5 Freeway to Oceanside, right through Camp Pendleton to San Clemente, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and Ladera Ranch. CA 49 meets Rohrabacher's district, CA-48, at Three Arch Bay. In 2015 the district's PVI was R+4. Obama had managed to scrape out a 50-49% win over McCain but lost to Romney 52-46%. Last year the residents were horrified by the loutish Trump and Hillary won 50.7% to 43.2%. The PVI is now a more electorally attractive R+1.

The DCCC had never been remotely interested in challenging Issa and has studiously avoided the district. In 2014 the candidate was Dave Peiser and Issa creamed him 98,161 (60.2%) to 64,981 (39.8%) a race that saw Issa spending $1,749,467 to Peiser's $85,321. The DCCC spent zero, as usual. But last year a remarkable candidate jumped in against Issa, former Marine Colonel Doug Applegate. The DCCC ignored, ignored, ignored... until Applegate started raising some real money and making some significant headway in the polls. The DCCC kept waiting and watching and making nice noises about Applegate. When he was within a few polling points of Issa, a couple of months before the election, the DCCC jumped into the race-- too little too late. Issa raised $2,854,882 but panicked and dug deep, spending a gargantuan $6,275,754 to Applegate's 2,041,091. The DCCC + Pelosi's Super PAC bought about $3.5 in broadcast spots, primarily to enrich consultants/staffers from their inner circle. It was the year's last election called because it was so close, but in the end Issa won 155,888 (50.3%) to 154,267 (49.7%).

2 of Skelton's in-it-for-the-money conservaDem clients, Schiff and Levin

Applegate and his grassroots army of supporters decided early to finish what they had started and defeat Issa in 2018. However several multimillionaires have other ideas, thinking it looked so easy. One Pelosi crony who never lifted a finger to defeat Issa, a transplanted failed politician and fixer from Virginia, Ira Lechner, persuaded a friend of his, Mike Levin, to run. Members of Skeltons staff say it is Lechner who has been paying Skelton to undermine Applegate, primarily by having Levin run around with Issa's discredited opposition smears as though they were knew. Skelton specializes in seedy conservative clients and he's gotten a batch of them-- Blue Dog Adam Schiff, legislative conservaDems Tom Daly and charter school shill Laura Friedman, to endorse Levin. Without any honor whatsoever, Lying Levin has spread manure on Capitol Hill saying that Applegate has Domestic Violence baggage and more will come out. That’s apparently enough manure to have multiple congressional Representatives who are pawns of Skelton to refer to Applegate as a "wife beater." Court records clearly show that (1) no violence (or even threats of violence) allegations were ever made against Applegate by the ex-wife's DV petition "form" pleadings and that (2) the case was dismissed even with the court viewing all allegations in the context most favorable to ex-wife, without requiring any evidence or defense from Applegate. This was all made up by Issa last year-- rejected by voters last year-- and resuscitated by Skelton and Levin this year.

Is it working? Well, Skelton himself doesn't think so. He was overheard this week predicting his client-- Levin-- couldn't win the primary because Applegate was so well-liked by Democrats and independents, but vowing to destroy Applegate anyway, in effect turning off enough voters to let Issa slip in again in the hope that Levin would run in 2020 and beat him then. Meanwhile Applegate continues a completely progressive, straight ahead grassroots campaign, basically ignoring the poison being spread by Skelton, Levin and Lechner in DC. If you haven't heard it yet, please listen to the interview labor champion Jonathan Tasini did with Applegate this week (up top). And consider helping him beat back the slime by contributing to his grassroots campaign (at the Bluer California thermometer on the right).

Doug Applegate: "A Labor Family Is What's Given Me The Values That's Made Me What I Am"

Frank Schaeffer has been traveling around the country meeting with the best progressive candidates for Congress and filming them. Last week he was in Orange County. We saw his talk with Laura Oatman, the progressive woman running for the coastal Orange County district held by Dana Rohrabacher, a few days ago. The video above is the interview he did with Doug Applegate.

Doug is, by far, the best candidate running to represent the district just south of Oatman's in southern Orange County and northern San Diego County. CA-49 goes from Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and Ladera Ranch in the north, through San Clemente, Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Vista and Encinitas to Solana Beach, Del Mar, Torrey Pines and UC, San Diego. Last cycle the Applegate-Issa election was the very last to be decided in the whole country because it was so close. The DCCC had never tried holding Darrell Issa accountable before. Doug forced them to and he came with in a small handful votes to beating one of Congress' arch-villains. The final vote was 155,888 (50.3%) to 154,267 (49.7%). Doug and his grassroots army announced that they would complete what they started in 2018.

But, almost immediately, along came the self-serving opportunists-- the forces of big money who had never objected to Darrell Issa and had never done anything to defeat him. Failed Virginia political hack and sleazy multimillionaire-- and Pelosi crony-- Ira Lechner decided he needed to put one of his own puppets into a race that looked very winnable... and he picked some clown and Hillary fundraiser named Mike Levin. Then San Diego New Dem-- one of Congress' richest men and one of the most right-wing Democrats in Congress-- Scott Peters decided the seat could be bought by one of his crooked cronies, Paul Kerr (because we all know that if there's one thing Congress needs more of it's clueless mega-millionaires). Not to be outdone, the young heiress to the Qualcomm fortune, Sara Jacobs, came flying in from Brooklyn last week to declare she's running too. What a pathetic nest of cruddy opportunists and self-servers!

Meanwhile, Issa is hoping his crooked Republican colleague, Duncan Hunter from the district next door (CA-50) gets indicted already so he can switch districts and not have to face near certain defeat at Applegate's hands next year. Issa, normally a dependable rubber stamp for the GOP House leadership, is so frightened of Applegate that he was one of only 13 Republicans in Congress to vote against Paul Ryan's tax scam last week.

This is going to be some wild race! We should make sure the Democratic Party nominee is a man of proven selfless integrity and strength, not another multimillionaire with nothing better to do than have the word "Rep" on their business card. Levin, for example, is playing the role of a poisonous snake, slithering around and whispering all the baseless and disproven charges Issa made against Applegate last cycle-- recycling the garbage... all he can do with no ideas of his own beyond "me," "me," "me."  He's the worst example of a candidate in a Democratic primary race anywhere in California. Please consider tapping on the ActBlue 2018 California Congress thermometer on the right and celebrating Thanksgiving by helping Doug Applegate in his sprint to repealing and replacing the odious career criminal Darrell Issa. Remember, there's no such thing as a contribution too small, not in a grassroots race against the richest-- and most crooked-- member of Congress.

Democrats Should Dump Their Failed DC Leaders With Their Outdated Preconceptions And Sweep The 2018 Elections

I was going to put this up as an addendum to an earlier post, but I changed my mind and decided it could stand on its own. Ryan Cooper has a tremendously competent look at Bernie's proposal and why it makes such good politics for Democrats, despite opposition from the party's two clueless-- and failed DC leaders, Schumer and Pelosi. "The plan," he wrote, "would be phased in over a period of four years. In the first year, traditional Medicare would be expanded to cover dental, vision, and hearing aids, as well as people over 55 or under 18, while others would be able to buy in if they wish. In the second year, the age qualification would be lowered to 45, in the third year to 35, and then in the fourth year, everyone remaining would be included. This upgraded version of Medicare would also be a lot more generous in terms of access. There would be no cost-sharing, except for prescription drugs. It is, as Paul Waldman argues, probably best understood as an opening bid-- a symbolic maximal demand rather than the usual pre-compromised [see failed Democratic leaders Schemer and Pelosi] Democratic fare.

We spend $3.2 trillion per year-- literally twice as much as the OECD average as a share of the economy. We pay enough in health-care taxes alone-- that is, the government revenue that goes to Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, and a few other things-- to cover a Canada-style Medicare-for-all system for the whole U.S., and then that much again in private money. In other words, if we could simply copy-paste Canada's universal health-care system into America, taxes would actually go down.

All that means is that America doesn't have to worry much about costs; it has to worry about allocating existing spending properly. We already have a gigantic pool of resources dedicated to health care-- about half private and half public. We just have to adjust that spending so it can support a single-payer system.

So on total spending, for example, BernieCare would have contradictory effects. No cost sharing would make going to the doctor much easier, which would increase spending, while on the other hand it would bring prices down a lot, cutting outlays. It's impossible to know for sure which effect will predominate until detailed studies can be done (and probably not for sure until it is actually implemented). But the fundamental reality is that we are already putting up way, way, way more than enough to pay for a really excellent universal health-care system. Any resource problems we run into along the way-- and there is sure to be quite a lot of disruption during the transition period-- can be solved by adjusting the pot of health-care resources around.

For example, Sanders' funding options present several ways you might finance Medicare for all and leave almost everyone money ahead. Administrative savings alone (due to the fact that Medicare is vastly more efficient than private insurance) would run to something like $500 billion per year. Negotiating drug prices might free up another $113 billion. Meanwhile, a 7.5 percent new employer-side payroll tax would raise $3.9 trillion, while cutting health-care expenses per employee by $9,000 on average. A new 4 percent income tax would raise another $3.5 trillion while saving a family of four making the median income about $4,400 after getting rid of premiums.

...[T]he basic strategy is clear: cut out waste, get prices down, add a few new taxes, and use the resources thus freed up to cover every single American. Even if those details need to be adjusted, it definitely can work, and it will be a spectacular improvement.

That brings me to the politics. Centrist liberals have long been against Medicare for all, because milquetoast, incremental politics rules out such sweeping changes by definition. Hillary Clinton, for example, does not like Sanders' bill, pointing out that fears of people losing the health insurance they have through their employer helped kill her effort at health-care reform in 1994. President Obama, fretting about this same thing, incautiously promised that "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan" under ObamaCare, which while true for most people was not true for millions of others, simply because you can't make large changes to the health-care system without having that effect. That broken promise enraged people.

The truth is that while employer-sponsored insurance is okay for most people who have it, it is also terrible in many ways. First and most importantly, it means that if you lose your job, you lose your coverage-- and perhaps so does your family. That is a huge problem both for people who lose employment-- there were 60 million job separations in 2016 alone-- and for people who are stuck in terrible jobs for fear of losing coverage (or "job lock"). Second, employer-based coverage has been getting worse over time, with the same increasingly higher co-pays, premiums, and deductibles, plus narrowing networks, that have afflicted the ObamaCare exchanges.

The way to get over people's fears of losing their (increasingly lousy) coverage is to promise them something so good that people can be certain they'll end up better off. The prospect of guaranteed, generous coverage at a reasonable price, that works everywhere and can never be taken away, that would abolish medical bankruptcy and the hell of insurance paperwork, fits that bill. What's more, most people are already very familiar with Medicare, and so will be resistant to scaremongering from conservatives and the insurance industry.

Fear of change and knee-jerk moderation is the thinking that made American health care such a disaster in the first place. But at some point America is going to have to rip off this band-aid. BernieCare is an excellent starting point.

A personal note: I retired early from my job at Time Warner, where I worked as the president of one of their divisions, Reprise Records. The platinum-plated health insurance policy that was part of my employment contract was the same for all presidents and chairmen; it has been negotiated and re-negotiated by top attorneys over the years and I was just lucky enough to have it, I thought. Supposedly it is the best private insurance money can buy. When I retired I was allowed to keep it-- via Cobra, which eventually I had to pay for and which is quite costly-- until Medicare kicked in. I was afraid that my coverage would plummet once I was forced onto Medicare. That was very foolish and very ignorant. Pay attention to my next sentence. Medicare is better-- MUCH better. Soon after Medicare kicked in, I was diagnosed with a rare but treatable form of cancer. Two years of treatment went beyond two million dollars. I never got so much as a question or a throat clearing from Medicare. (Medicare Part D-- Republican Medicare, the drug part-- totally sucks and needs to be scrapped entirely and redone and it is currently the bane of my existence, Medicare itself... better than the best thing corporate chief executives get.) I know that no one will believe me-- but I'm not exaggerating. Forget partisan anything; do whatever you can to get Medicare expanded (and improved in the ways Bernie is proposing); it will eventually save your life and the lives of those you love.

As for the politics of this... a random race: CA-49, Darrell Issa's seat in northern San Diego County and southern Orange County. Doug Applegate came within a handful of votes of beating Issa last time. He's expected to wipe Issa out in 2018. And part of the reason is healthcare. Doug, a former Marine Colonel who saw who single payer works in the military, aggressively supports Medicare-For-All. Issa voted for TrumpCare, which would rip health insurance away from 22 million Americans. CA-49 voters will decide.