A new date has been set for the criminal trial of Rep. Duncan Hunter; he will now face trial starting on Jan. 14 instead of Sept. 10, based on a court decision Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan changed the date after lawyers requested a delay. It will allow time for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to consider Hunter’s appeal of Whelan’s refusal in July to throw out the indictment. Hunter’s lawyers plan to ask the appeals court to dismiss charges that he spent more than $250,000 in campaign donations on girlfriends, family vacations, tuition for his children and other personal expenses. Hunter’s defense attorney, Gregory Vega, filed a similar motion with Whelan in June arguing that some of the evidence prosecutors gathered about Hunter’s allegedly criminal conduct was protected by the “speech or debate” clause of the U.S. Constitution. Whelan rejected the argument, ruling that it was “wholly without merit.”