Congressman admits he took photograph with enemy corpse

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told a town hall audience Saturday that he took a picture of himself with a dead combatant during his military service, according to local media outlets — a potential violation of U.S. rules of warfare.

Hunter, a Marine Corps veteran, made the remarks while speaking about the case of Eddie Gallagher, the Navy SEAL chief who is accused of killing an Islamic State prisoner under his care. Gallagher, who has pleaded not guilty, also took pictures next to the slain man, according to news reports.

“Eddie did one bad thing that I’m guilty of, too — taking a picture of the body and saying something stupid,” Hunter said at the meeting in Ramona, Calif.

Hunter, 42, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan when he was on active duty (he later was deployed to Afghanistan as a reservist), said he had taken pictures “just like that when I was overseas,” according to the Times. Hunter said he did share the images.

According to the Department of Defense’s Law of War Manual, enemy military dead must be treated with “the same respect as would be afforded to, or expected for, friendly military dead.”

The Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.

Hunter and his wife, Margaret, were charged last year by federal authorities in connection with using $250,000 in campaign funds to pay for family vacations and other personal expenses. Both have pleaded not guilty.