LOS ANGELES - Lawyers for California Rep. Duncan Hunter want a federal judge to reject an attempt by prosecutors to introduce evidence that the congressman used campaign funds to finance a string of extramarital relationships, a court filing said Friday. In the eight-page document, Hunter’s lawyers argue that prosecutors are seeking permission “to focus the jury’s attention on Mr. Hunter’s infidelity” with evidence that isn’t necessary for a jury to evaluate the case. To allow it, they wrote, would present “substantial risk of unfair prejudice.”“Evidence of Mr. Hunter’s ‘intimate affairs’ is not directly relevant to the ultimate issue in this case, whether Mr. Hunter knowingly converted campaign funds to his personal use,” they wrote. Duncan Hunter has said prosecutors have targeted him for political reasons. The trial is scheduled for September.

Source: thestar June 29, 2019 01:47 UTC