Indicted congressman makes court appearance before midterms

SAN DIEGO — The Democratic opponent of California's Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter released a new TV ad Monday aimed at conservative voters in a deeply red district as the indicted congressman made his last court appearance before midterm elections.

The narrator of the 30-second spot by Ammar Campa-najjar's campaign says the Democrat will put "country over party." It contends Hunter blamed his wife for spending donor money on family vacations and "drunken parties."

The couple has pleaded not guilty to charges of misusing more than $250,000 in campaign funds. Hunter told Fox News in August that his campaign made mistakes and his wife was his campaign manager.

The couple appeared Monday before a federal judge in San Diego. The judge set a Dec. 3 status hearing after defense attorneys told him the prosecution had handed over a large amount of material from the 2 1/2 -yearlong investigation, including 12,000 pages of FBI reports.

The congressman is not due now back in court until after the elections.

Hunter and his wife arrived and left the court separately Monday as they have done since the 47-page grand jury indictment was handed down in August.

They are accused of using campaign money for a spending spree that included purchases at Costco exceeding $11,000 and more than $2,000 at Michael's along with theater tickets, tequila shots, private school tuition and trips to Italy and Hawaii. They are accused of trying to conceal the spending by passing them off in federal records as donations to wounded warriors and other charities.