Schocked: Scandal-Plagued Congressman To Resign
“Today, I am announcing my resignation as a Member of the United States House of Representatives effective March 31,” Schock said in a statement. “I do this with a heavy heart. Serving the people of the 18th District is the highest and greatest honor I have had in my life. I thank them for their faith in electing me and letting me represent their interests in Washington. I have given them my all over the last six years. I have traveled to all corners of the District to meet with the people I’ve been fortunate to be able to call my friends and neighbors. 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. I have always sought to do what’s best for my constituents and I thank them for the opportunity to serve”
Click here for reuse options!Feb. 2: The Washington Post publishes its report on Schock’s Downton Abbey-inspired office. Schock’s communications director, Benjamin Cole, draws attention for trying to deter the Post reporter from publishing the story. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group, files an ethics complaint against Schock, asking the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate whether Schock “broke House rules by accepting professional interior design work for free.” Schock later repays $40,000 from his personal checking account for the redecorations.
Feb. 5: Cole resigns as Schock’s communications director after ThinkProgress and BuzzFeed publish “racially charged comments” lifted from his Facebook page.
Feb. 6: Liberal website Blue Nation Review reports that a month before the 2012 election, Schock sold his home in downstate Dunlap to a Caterpillar executive who also happens to be one of Schock’s major campaign donors for more than three times the property’s assessed value.
Feb. 9: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington files a second complaint against Schock over the home sale to his campaign donor.
Feb. 23: The AP reports that Schock used his congressional account or campaign funds for at least a dozen flights worth $40,000 aboard planes owned by donors. The report tracked Schock’s reliance on the aircraft partly through the congressman’s pictures uploaded to his Instagram account, extracting hidden location data associated with each image and correlating it with flight records showing airport stopovers and expenses later billed for air travel against Schock’s office and campaign records.
Feb. 24: Schock hires a team of campaign finance lawyers and public relations experts to address the controversy about his expenses after the AP report on the flights. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington files its third complaint against Schock asking congressional investigators to examine whether Schock violated House ethics rules by using taxpayer and campaign funds for the private air travel.
Feb. 26: Politico reports that Schock “attended dinner and drinks in 2011 at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and at a swank nightclub in London — and never disclosed receiving a single gift on his financial disclosure form.”
March 2: The Chicago Sun-Times and AP report that Schock billed taxpayers more than $10,000 on private flights last fall that included a trip to a Chicago Bears football game.
March 9: The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Schock made a taxpayer-funded trip to New York with at least 10 staffers for events connected to a U.S. visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The report noted that the staffers had few official duties related to the event.
March 10: News surfaces that Schock employed a full-time personal photographer.
March 13: The AP publishes an in-depth report on how Schock has built his personal wealth off extensive business dealings with campaign contributors since entering politics more than a decade ago. Read it here.
March 16: The Office of Congressional Ethics, which reviews ethics complaints against House members and makes recommendations to the House Ethics Committee, reaches out to Schock’s associates as it begins an investigation into Schock’s dealings. Meanwhile, details emerge of another business deal between Schock and one of his political donors: A shell company linked to Schock paid a political donor $750,000 last year for a warehouse in Peoria, then took out a $600,000 mortgage for the property from a local bank run by other donors.
Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo
David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.
* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.
38 responses to Schocked: Scandal-Plagued Congressman To Resign
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Foundryman March 17th, 2015 at 14:31
He left out, “I have never put myself and my financial interests ahead of anything”…
Suzanne McFly March 17th, 2015 at 18:36
No, that would of been too much, he has morals lol.
Sy Colepath March 17th, 2015 at 14:32
I’ll miss all the mocking of him.
rg9rts March 18th, 2015 at 05:17
He beat Stewart to the punch
Foundryman March 17th, 2015 at 14:35
Every republican congressmen should be investigated and scrutinized the same way as this crook was.
nola878 March 17th, 2015 at 16:41
No. Every Congress critter, regardless of party.
Foundryman March 17th, 2015 at 17:01
Yes, except it was republicans who were behind citizens united that dropped unlimited amounts of cash in their laps. They are the ones who should be held accountable for every dollar they spend.
Anomaly 100 March 17th, 2015 at 14:38
Buh bye!
whatthe46 March 17th, 2015 at 14:53
but, Hil’s emails. KMBA!!!!
William March 17th, 2015 at 14:58
including a probe by the Office of Congressional Ethics.
Guess we can add that to the list.
Larry Schmitt March 17th, 2015 at 16:33
Ethical congressman.
Warman1138 March 18th, 2015 at 07:02
There is such a thing as an ethical congressman?
Larry Schmitt March 18th, 2015 at 07:15
No, that’s why it’s an oxymoron.
arc99 March 17th, 2015 at 15:09
Reports that Rep. Schock has placed a rush order for the Sarah Palin playbook “How to Blame the Liberal Media for My Own F*ckUps” could not be confirmed, but are probably quite accurate.
anothertoothpick March 17th, 2015 at 15:18
This guy is not going to walk away from this with that I love Jesus look on his face without punishment.
He may dodge the congressional investigation by quitting, but those very rich donors that wasted their money on his campaign are going to want their pound of flesh.
Suzanne McFly March 17th, 2015 at 18:34
He may of quit, but he still has contacts and I am sure they want some of that money in their coffers as well.
Warman1138 March 18th, 2015 at 06:59
Wouldn’t surprise me if they figured out how to use it as a tax deduction or a reason for a big fat taxpayer funded subsidy.
Larry Schmitt March 17th, 2015 at 16:33
He’s just preparing to declare his candidacy for Governor of Illinois. He has the perfect credentials.
Foundryman March 17th, 2015 at 17:03
LOL…sadly. you’re probably right..
rg9rts March 18th, 2015 at 05:15
Give Rahm a run for his …money …LOL can’t stop myself lol
Suzanne McFly March 17th, 2015 at 18:32
One down, now lets start investigating the rest of them.
fancypants March 17th, 2015 at 20:11
what else can I say ?
https://youtu.be/Wz_DNrKVrQ8
CHOCOL8MILK March 17th, 2015 at 21:36
And he won’t get jail time (however, I hope I am incorrect): “details emerge of another business deal between Schock and one of his political donors: A shell company linked to Schock paid a political donor $750,000 last year for a warehouse in Peoria, then took out a $600,000 mortgage for the property from a local bank run by other donors.”
Why don’t we treat these crooks (regardless of political party) as regular crooks? Put them in jail in addition to a fine. A person robbing a gas station of $50.00 gets more prison time than these “high roller” crooks.
He will live it up like a prince, enjoying the personal wealth he’s built up from “extensive business dealings with campaign contributors since entering politics more than a decade ago”.
whatthe46 March 17th, 2015 at 22:01
whatever, how about those clinton emails? /scarcasm.
rg9rts March 18th, 2015 at 05:13
Party today later……~~~(^.,.^)
trees March 17th, 2015 at 22:04
Dude needs to take lessons from the Clintons, as this can all be explained, but first you just don’t say anything for a few weeks, nothing, you don’t even acknowledge that anything is wrong, then, weeks later, you come out and say something to the effect that you haven’t broken any laws and that this is just some vast left wing conspiracy…..
Duck down and let your surrogates loose…..let them say that you haven’t broken any laws, that you know of, and that this is just a tempest in a tea pot….
Hunker down, and keep a low profile. Wait for the 24 hour news cycle to lose interest and move on, don’t worry, something else will happen and the news reporters will lose interest in the story.
Stay quiet, and after awhile you can emerge. If anyone tries to bring up the story you say, “that’s old news, I’ve answered all of those questions already and we’re moving forward….”
That’s how you get away with it.
granpa.usthai March 18th, 2015 at 00:41
B E N G H A Z I !!!
William March 18th, 2015 at 00:47
Insert quarter to play again.
Warman1138 March 18th, 2015 at 06:52
LOL!
rg9rts March 18th, 2015 at 05:11
You waste a lot of time beating dead horses….
William March 18th, 2015 at 00:36
Sadly, (according to my math) at this rate we will only be rid of eight of them by years end.
bpollen March 18th, 2015 at 03:36
I have read that he also charged the govt milage for claims of 170K in miles in a Tahoe that only had 80K miles on the odometer when it was sold…
rg9rts March 18th, 2015 at 05:12
He thought K was kilometers??
rg9rts March 18th, 2015 at 05:08
Just couldn’t stop himself once he was introduced to the trough …Where else can you get paid $174,000 for a part time job with more recesses that I ever had in elementary school …
Warman1138 March 18th, 2015 at 06:50
I can only picture Cuba Gooding’s famous movie phrase….” Show me the money! ”
illinoisboy1977 March 18th, 2015 at 10:05
Just another corrupt Illinois politician. I hope they keep looking into potential criminal charges, even though he’s no longer in office. If he was supporting a lavish lifestyle on MY dime, I don’t just want them to throw the book at him. I want them to beat him stupid, with it.
oldfart March 18th, 2015 at 13:03
another republican quitting halfway through in order to avoid further investigation ?
sounds familiar from somewhere…
Bunya March 18th, 2015 at 14:17
Another moral republican resigns amid scandals caused by the media asking questions. Move along. Nothing to see here. I’m sure republican Jesus forgive him.
.
Now, let’s get back to real important stuff – like investigating the Clinton e-mails and, of course, Benghaaaaaazzzzziiiiii.