President Trump fired off a tweet criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department over the indictments of San Diego Rep. Duncan Hunter and New York Rep. Chris Collins Monday amid a series other tweets celebrating Labor Day, criticizing Iran and complaining about the “Rigged Witch Hunt."
Although he did not mention them by name, the president referred the investigations of both men as “Obama era” and questioned the timing of the indictments just months before the midterms. Both congressmen have been under investigation for more than a year.
Collins, who represents Western New York, was arrested Aug. 8 on federal insider trading charges.
Hunter, who represents the 50th district in San Diego, was indicted along with his wife on Aug. 21 on charges of using campaign funds for personal expenses, including family vacations, groceries and school tuition.
The tweet read, “Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff......”
Hunter’s campaign has alleged the charges are politically motivated, citing that two of the prosecutors attended a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in 2016.
In front of reporters, he compared himself to the president, saying "this is the new Department of Justice. This is the Democrats’ arm of law enforcement."
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Hunter says he plans to stay in the race and told reporters last week he looks forward to fighting the charges in court.
A poll that was done after Hunter’s indictment showed his support in the 50th district has remained steady, but that constituents would rather vote for any other Republican. In the poll, voters also questioned the timing of the indictments, echoing the president’s and Hunter’s claims the charges are political.
After the indictment, Hunter first seemed to blame his wife, Margaret Hunter, and then later said he wanted prosecutors to “leave my wife out of it,” continuing his campaign’s suggestion that the charges are political. “We know they're not after her they're after me,” he told reporters last week. “They want to flip the seat, so let's go to court let's have a trial and everybody will see everything.”
Hunter's Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, has seized on the charges to boost his own campaign, but the former Obama Labor Department official has never run for office before and Hunter soundly won the primary 49 percent to Campa-Najjar's 16 percent.
In the latest poll, Hunter has an eight-point lead over Campa-Najjar: 47 to 39.
Hunter and his wife made their first appearance in court on Aug. 23, pleading not guilty to the charges. Hunter is scheduled to be in court again Tuesday.
