Politico Runs GOP Congressman’s Op-Ed Blasting Defense Cuts Without Disclosing His Defense Industry Ties

Today, Politico ran an op-ed by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) blasting possible defense cuts that may take place following the recently passed debt deal. Hunter argued that defense spending isn’t a primary reason for our debt and warned that this may be dangerous for the country:

Defense spending is not the reason for our more than $14 trillion in national debt. Nor should it be identified as a primary revenue source to relieve the nation’s fiscal troubles. There is indeed room for efficiency — but cutting for the sake of cutting is a dangerous proposition.

It is plainly untrue to say that the Defense Department isn’t a major driver of our deficit. After all, defense spending makes up the bulk of the government’s discretionary budget.

While there is nothing wrong with Politico publishing a piece advocating against cutting the defense budget, the paper did make a major omission by failing to include a crucial fact: Hunter’s top campaign contributors all come from the defense industry. As campaign finance data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics shows, half of the top 20 corporate contributors to his campaign are defense contractors:

Politico and all other media outlets should disclose these conflicts of interest when discussing this issue. ThinkProgress asked Politico to comment, but we have yet to receive a response.