San Diego Union-Tribune: Hunter will likely receive his taxpayer-funded congressional pension despite guilty plea

Last month Rep. Duncan D. Hunter pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy for converting campaign funds to personal use, but that doesn’t mean taxpayers will be off the hook for supporting the congressman after he retires.

Hunter, an Alpine Republican who was sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2009, has garnered at least 11 years of service that counts toward the congressional portion of his pension, meaning he’ll still likely receive thousands of dollars in retirement benefits related to that service in addition to benefits from prior military service.

The amount of money in Hunter’s congressional pension is not publicly known, and the Congressional Research Service and the Office of Personnel Management both declined to provide The San Diego Union-Tribune with information regarding the the congressman’s benefits. Hunter remains in Congress, although he said he would step down “shortly after the holidays.” He is to be sentenced March 17.

Based on formulas outlined in a paper released by the research service earlier this year, it is estimated that Hunter, 43, would receive an annual payment of at least $32,538 due to his congressional pension, which he can begin accessing when he turns 62. …

“He pleaded to a single felony but not one that is specifically included in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act,” said Beth A. Rotman, an attorney who is the money in politics and ethics program director for the good government group Common Cause. …

Rotman noted that while the law includes many more crimes than it did 20 years ago, “It’s not everything. In cases like this, the desire to keep the pension could be one of the reasons someone accepts a plea that is only a portion of the charges.” …

Rotman said the guilty pleas could still cost the Hunters, if their sentences include the maximum $250,000 fine, for example, or if they did not declare as income on tax returns the $150,000 to $200,000 they have admitted to using for personal expenses and the IRS comes calling to collect back taxes.