Sudden fall: Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock is resigning

[webfact]

Sudden fall: Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock is resigning
By ERICA WERNER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock abruptly resigned Tuesday following a monthlong cascade of revelations about his business deals and lavish spending on everything from overseas travel to office decor in the style of "Downton Abbey."

"I do this with a heavy heart," Schock said in a statement. He said he had given the people of his Peoria-area district his all since his election in 2008, "but the constant questions over the last six weeks have proven a great distraction that has made it too difficult for me to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standards that they deserve and which I have set for myself."

Schock, 33, a young, media-savvy Republican, had drawn attention for his physical fitness and fundraising prowess. But more recently he has come under scrutiny for extravagant spending, payments to donors for flights on private jets and improperly categorized expenses.

The questions raised have included Associated Press investigations of his real estate transactions, air travel and Instagram use. On Monday, the AP confirmed that the Office of Congressional Ethics had reached out to Schock's associates as it apparently began an investigation.

In a statement, House Speaker John Boehner said: "With this decision, Rep. Schock has put the best interests of his constituents and the House first. I appreciate Aaron's years of service, and I wish him well in the future."

Schock did not inform any House leaders before making his decision, and the announcement took Republicans by surprise. Although the questions around his spending had begun to attract attention and raise concerns, he was not yet facing concerted public pressure from party members to step down.

He is the second House Republican to give up his seat this year under unfavorable circumstances. Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty on tax evasion charges, resigned his New York seat in early January.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner will have five days from the March 31 effective date of Schock's resignation to schedule a special election, which must be held within 120 days of the vacancy.

GOP state Sen. Darin LaHood, considered the front-runner to replace Schock in the heavily Republican district, will announce his candidacy Wednesday, Republican officials in Washington said. LaHood is the son of Ray LaHood, who served in Congress and later as President Barack Obama's transportation secretary.

Schock, an energetic real estate investor who catapulted from the Illinois Legislature to win a congressional seat at the age of 26, touted his status as the House's first millennial lawmaker. He posed shirtless for Men's Health magazine to promote fitness, and used Instagram the way older politicians rely on press releases, photo bombing his growing fan base from London to the Florida beach scene. He was an in-demand fundraising force and visited more than 40 congressional districts in the lead-up to November's elections.

Last June, he was brought into the House leadership and named a senior deputy whip.

But Schock's fall was even swifter. Only weeks ago, a Washington Post report about his "Downton Abbey"-style office decor led to questions about his handling of expenses. The ornate redecoration, replete with 1920s-era touches, cost $40,000 and was charged to his office; faced with questions, Schock repaid the expense.

Since Schock doesn't plan to formally resign until March 31, the Office of Congressional Ethics could still refer its findings before then to the Justice Department's Office of Public Integrity or the Federal Election Commission. Once his resignation becomes final, congressional investigators would lose jurisdiction.

The office-redecoration expenses prompted an ethics complaint from a private Washington watchdog group and set off a flurry of reporting on Schock's spending and reliance on political donors.

An AP examination of Schock's frequent flights around his central Illinois district found that he spent more than $40,000 from his House expenses for travel on planes owned by a group of donors. AP also used metadata associated with Schock's Instagram account to track his reliance on donor flights and his attendance at concerts and festivals where a Super PAC supporting his campaign spent more than $24,000 for tickets.

A separate AP story detailed how Schock has relied on several political donors for almost all of the Peoria-based real estate deals that have provided much of his personal wealth, estimated at about $1.4 million in 2013.

Even so, until last week, Schock thought he could weather the controversy and had turned to a team of communications strategists and lawyers to head off any more embarrassments.

But then The Chicago Sun-Times and Politico began questioning discrepancies between mileage reimbursements that Schock was paid and the number of miles on his SUV when he sold it. The gap suggested Schock was billing taxpayers and his campaign for miles that were never driven.

Schock and his advisers realized they had a situation that could not be called an error or misunderstanding, according to a Schock adviser who demanded anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. It proved to be the deciding factor pushing Schock to leave Congress. On Tuesday a spokesman said Schock had repaid all mileage expenses incurred since he joined Congress, "out of an abundance of caution."
___

Associated Press writers Stephen Braun, Jack Gillum, Matthew Daly, Philip Elliott, Alan Fram and Donna Cassata in Washington and Kerry Lester in Springfield, Illinois, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-03-18

[NongKhaiKid]

Saw a report on television recently on this subject and it showed the senator in his ' Downton Abbey ' office.

His pitch was that it didn't matter how the office was decorated etc as what mattered was the work being done within the office !

It was also pointed out he'd repaid the costs involved so presumably that made it ok, at that time.

As Nikita Kruschev said " politicians are the same the world over ..."

[pitrevie]

How nice to see someone who is against government spending sticking to his principles.

[Ozziepat]

The media went after him because he is Republican, young, dynamic, successful and a good fundraiser. Note the paltry magnitude of the infractions. I venture to guess there is not a Democrat in Congress who is any more ethical, but they will never be targeted by the MSM. Misuse of funds, if such was the case, is never acceptable, nor is a double standard when it comes to investigating and reporting same.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Ozziepat

[ezzra]

I'm Schocked..... really,,, didn't expect that...

[JingerBen]

Aaron, we hardly knew ye...

What a schock!

[Luxfare]

Hopefully Chris Christie will be next, Republicans are simply low of the low.

[reptile91602]

The media went after him because he is Republican, young, dynamic, successful and a good fundraiser..

This statement is nonsensical as the media will make a story of anything. Of course he deserves what he is getting as well as he is another dick politician.

[Traveling Sailor]

"out of an abundance of caution."

Not exhibited by him until maybe 3 weeks ago??

[Pinot]

The media went after him because he is Republican, young, dynamic, successful and a good fundraiser. Note the paltry magnitude of the infractions. I venture to guess there is not a Democrat in Congress who is any more ethical, but they will never be targeted by the MSM. Misuse of funds, if such was the case, is never acceptable, nor is a double standard when it comes to investigating and reporting same.

Really? Come on, they went "after him" because he was an complete idiot. It was infraction after infraction and the office decor was the icing on the cake.

Republicans and their persecution complex, yea, they're all out to get ya. And all the democrats are unethical like this tool.

Turn off Fox News for an hour and take a deep breath.

[Rancid]

The Office of Congressional Ethics - an oxymoron?

[FangFerang]

"He said he had given the people of his Peoria-area district his all since his election in 2008" sounds more like he took his all since 2008.

Just another piratical right wing nut crowing his thefts are "just a terrible misunderstanding, but I'm stepping down for the sake of the greater nation" -- (which means -- "Im taking the money and running!".

[Seastallion]

Ask not what your country can do for you....No, wait, that was a Democrat.

Republican attitude, the antithesis of the Dem's, in full force with this whipper snapper.

But the funniest thing....when I read about the Downton Abbey decor, I assumed an elderly chap. What 30-something guy goes for chintz and candelebras? Really showing his class.

[Seastallion]

"He said he had given the people of his Peoria-area district his all since his election in 2008" sounds more like he took his all since 2008.

Just another piratical right wing nut crowing his thefts are "just a terrible misunderstanding, but I'm stepping down for the sake of the greater nation" -- (which means -- "Im taking the money and running!".

And stepping down real quick in the hope the investigation loses jurisdiction.....I wonder why .

Typical Rep....but too young and inexperienced to have hidden his loot like his colleagues.

[NickJ]

And yet another Festival of Morons.....

[DeaconJohn]

With so many pigs feeding at the trough, the system becomes dysfunctional.

They sell their allegiance to the highest bidder - as recent events have reminded us.

[losworld]

The media went after him because he is Republican, young, dynamic, successful and a good fundraiser. Note the paltry magnitude of the infractions. I venture to guess there is not a Democrat in Congress who is any more ethical, but they will never be targeted by the MSM. Misuse of funds, if such was the case, is never acceptable, nor is a double standard when it comes to investigating and reporting same.

Okay than tell the lazy ass spineless Boehmer to get off his ass and do something.

[maidee]

politicians, any colour, are just puppets of the people who sponsored their campaign, and payback the masters, they will

[F430murci]

"He said he had given the people of his Peoria-area district his all since his election in 2008" sounds more like he took his all since 2008.

Just another piratical right wing nut crowing his thefts are "just a terrible misunderstanding, but I'm stepping down for the sake of the greater nation" -- (which means -- "Im taking the money and running!".

And stepping down real quick in the hope the investigation loses jurisdiction.....I wonder why .

Typical Rep....but too young and inexperienced to have hidden his loot like his colleagues.

Prejudging and generalizations based in what? Most Republicans are white and white Republicans steal . . . Same racist mentality, albeit reverse racism, you condemn when directed toward Muslims and blacks. Interesting in that you condemn exactly what you posses.

[F430murci]

Dumb arrssee! Bye, bye. Claiming all politicians are like this scum bag is as dumb as this guy.

I do know politicians that are ego driven and self serving. I, however, know many that are genuinely really good people that live their state and country and that have good and honorable ideas. These people fall on both sides of the isle and out number the greedy, self centered, ego driven disgraces we get from time to time.

Fact remains, all countries have their fair share of ego driven, self absorbed and self centered politicians. I, however, believe that the US checks and balances and I eyesight committees does much more to keep things in check than many other countries.

[beechguy]

"He said he had given the people of his Peoria-area district his all since his election in 2008" sounds more like he took his all since 2008.

Just another piratical right wing nut crowing his thefts are "just a terrible misunderstanding, but I'm stepping down for the sake of the greater nation" -- (which means -- "Im taking the money and running!".

And stepping down real quick in the hope the investigation loses jurisdiction.....I wonder why .

Typical Rep....but too young and inexperienced to have hidden his loot like his colleagues.

Yes, he should have hired some of the people Hillary and Pelosi use.

[MJP]

Nothing compared to the lavish spending of that Pelosi woman.

[Pinot]

What does this tool have to do with Pelosi? The GOP paranoid hatred of everything, has no bounds.

Let's focus here.

This complete idiot resigned before being brought up on charges. He'll probably be prosecuted.

[DeaconJohn]

What does this tool have to do with Pelosi? The GOP paranoid hatred of everything, has no bounds.

Let's focus here.

This complete idiot resigned before being brought up on charges. He'll probably be prosecuted.

Yes, he jumped before he was pushed.

What's needed now is a vindictive federal prosecutor with a political agenda to lead the witch-hunt.

[Seastallion]

What does this tool have to do with Pelosi? The GOP paranoid hatred of everything, has no bounds.

Let's focus here.

This complete idiot resigned before being brought up on charges. He'll probably be prosecuted.

Yes, he jumped before he was pushed.

What's needed now is a vindictive federal prosecutor with a political agenda to lead the witch-hunt.

It's not a witch hunt if the guy actually did wrong, which is likely.

[Seastallion]

"He said he had given the people of his Peoria-area district his all since his election in 2008" sounds more like he took his all since 2008.

Just another piratical right wing nut crowing his thefts are "just a terrible misunderstanding, but I'm stepping down for the sake of the greater nation" -- (which means -- "Im taking the money and running!".

And stepping down real quick in the hope the investigation loses jurisdiction.....I wonder why .

Typical Rep....but too young and inexperienced to have hidden his loot like his colleagues.

Prejudging and generalizations based in what? Most Republicans are white and white Republicans steal . . . Same racist mentality, albeit reverse racism, you condemn when directed toward Muslims and blacks. Interesting in that you condemn exactly what you posses.

You're projecting...quite irrationally too.

[Chicog]

I commend the journalism that found this fraud.

They had to add up all his mileage claims and track down the car to prove that he'd been fiddling his expenses.

Probably not the first person on the planet to do so, but when you hold yourselves up as the bastions of truth and right.....

[chuckd]

I commend the journalism that found this fraud.

They had to add up all his mileage claims and track down the car to prove that he'd been fiddling his expenses.

Probably not the first person on the planet to do so, but when you hold yourselves up as the bastions of truth and right.....

Here's another boondoggle discovered by some professional journalism. It is also mileage related.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/politics-govt/2015/03/13/obama-legacy-6-years-38-vacations-219-golf-rounds-%E2%80%A6-$40mplus#.VQp11tKUfIc

Bastions of truth and light indeed.

[Chicog]

Got another link? Get a 404 on that one.

[chuckd]

Got another link? Get a 404 on that one.

http://www.gopusa.com/freshink/2015/03/17/obama-legacy-6-years-38-vacations-219-golf-rounds-40m/?subscriber=1