Former Rep. Duncan Hunter, who received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump in December 2020, is now working on someone else’s bid for clemency. A recent federal filing lists Hunter as a consultant on an effort to secure a presidential pardon for Raymond Liddy, the Coronado attorney convicted in 2020 of possessing child sexual abuse material. The paperwork connects Hunter to a lobbying push run through Tommy Marquez Consulting and folds another San Diego legal saga into the world of federal pardons.
Lobbying filing lists Hunter as a consultant
A federal lobbying disclosure filed in November 2025 names Tommy Marquez Consulting as representing Liddy and identifies Hunter as a consultant on the clemency effort, according to LegiStorm. The filing lists Tommy Marquez as the firm’s CEO and characterizes the work as clemency-related activity submitted to the Trump administration.
Conviction and disbarment
Liddy was convicted in a federal bench trial in 2020 of possessing images of minors and received a sentence of five years of probation, according to court records and contemporaneous reporting. The State Bar of California later moved to revoke his law license, a disciplinary step detailed by KPBS.
Hunter’s past conviction and pardon
Hunter himself pleaded guilty in 2019 to a federal campaign finance felony and was sentenced to 11 months in prison, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release. Trump granted Hunter a full presidential pardon in December 2020, an action widely covered in national media, including The Washington Post.
What a presidential pardon would, and would not, change
Under federal regulations governing clemency petitions, requests to the president must relate only to violations of laws of the United States, as spelled out in the Code of Federal Regulations. In practical terms, a presidential pardon would not automatically reverse state-level consequences such as disbarment or state sex offender registration requirements. That division between federal and state authority is reflected in the State Bar’s move to strip Liddy of his license, as reported by the Times of San Diego.
What comes next
The lobbying disclosure and related reporting describe Liddy’s clemency petition as recorded as pending in Trump-era records following filings in 2025 and list Hunter as part of the team seeking relief, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. How the administration will handle the request, and whether any federal pardon would have much effect on Liddy’s state disciplinary status, remains unresolved. For now, the filing links a onetime San Diego congressman turned clemency recipient to a new, high-profile bid for presidential mercy.
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