More wacky fun with GOP Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Tasteful Fedora) as it turns out his lavish office isn’t the only thing he’s spent a curiously large amount of money on as a Congresscritter, thanks to some enterprising reporters putting two and two together with all of Schock’s many, many Instragram updates.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the rising GOP star – who has already come fire under for his lavish “Downton Abbey”-styled congressional office – used campaign donations for at least $75,000 in questionable expenses.
Reporters Jack Gillum and Stephen Braun used location data from the 33-year-old Schock’s frequently updated Instagram account to cross-reference with travel and other reports filed by his office.
They found that a Schock PAC called GOP Generation Y billed more than $24,000 over the past four years on concerts, including country music events and performances by Jay-Z and Katy Perry, and fundraisers held at breweries.
His office also paid $1,400 to a massage parlor in October, and the AP reported that Schock spent more than $40,000 of donors’ money for private airfare.
Lawmakers are allowed to use office funds for private flights if they cover their share of the costs.
After a while that money adds up, even for someone in Congress. Granted, five-digit stuff is slap on the wrist territory for a House Ethics Committee at most, but still this kind of behavior probably looks bad to the Republicans who elected him.
Maybe.
I still hate his fedora.
jonas
Not to mention the boobs who donated to his
grift/slush fundPACBotsplainer
In before Spincuck…
dmsilev
One wonders how this will play in Peoria.
Seriously, Schock’s district includes Peoria.
C.V. Danes
For $1400 there better have been a happy ending!
ET
I wonder, did he have his own (flawed) picture of what member of Congress can do and decided to get himself some or is he just that stupid.
Omnes Omnibus
@ET: False dichotomy.
MattF
“But the money was just sitting there.”
Gin & Tonic
The hat in the picture from Bs As is more a trilby than a fedora.
Botsplainer
@C.V. Danes:
From anecdotal tales told to me about raids on local massage joints (and review of credit card transaction reports – breathlessly gossiped about because one frequent visitor was a well-known local lawyer who’d been a prosecutor until shortly before the raids), that was somewhere between 7 and 10 happy ending massages.
Roger Moore
@jonas:
I wouldn’t count on it. As long as he votes the way they want him to, they’ll consider it money well spent.
Gin & Tonic
BTW, that photo from La Boca is the only one in his Instagram account in which he is wearing a hat. So it’s not possible to draw a conclusion about his taste (or lack of) in hats.
SRW1
In somewhat related news, Sir Malcom Rifkind, ex-minister in the Iron Lady cabinet, had to resign his parliamentary seat in Westminster because he was a bit to eager to monetize his contacts in the UK government machine. His excuse was that he found it impossible to survive on his take home pay of £67k as an MP.
I think the Schock escapades make a strong argument that the pauper argument of the good Sir may have some validity.
Punchy
Sorry, but unless he bought about 28 gift cards, there’s no way one can spend $1400 in a massage parlor unless several unsavory and perhaps illegal activities also took place.
GregB
Leave Aaron alone!
Joy
Actually the people in this district think he’s great. Our local “political” reporter just this past weekend finally mentioned his Downtown Abbey Washington office in his column but but nothing else. His district is VERY Republican and they would rather have a corrupt Republican than a Democrat any day. It sucks to be here politically.
debbie
They need to stop comparing his office to Downton Abbey. No way the Crawleys would have allowed for such crappy picture-hanging.
OzarkHillbilly
Lighten up Francis. This is just his own private economic stimulus package.
MomSense
Can he actually dance the tango? Enquiring minds want to know.
Bobby B.
@Punchy: Unsavory you say? Please expound on the details. I’m compiling a study for home use which will cover all positions and jellies.
boatboy_srq
@C.V. Danes: Doesn’t he have a photographer on the payroll for that?
Frankensteinbeck
Why would it? They have different priorities and values. Conservatives have been quite consistent that the only government ‘waste’ they care about is money going to blacks. That’s the only money they consistently try to cut. The more of the government’s money that goes to their own and not the Other, the better.
Pope Ratzy
@Gin & Tonic: Of course it is a Trilby. The *hip* and *cool* kids all wear Trilby because it is cheaper than an actual Fedora, looks kind of like a Fedora, free ones are given out at events on “Fedora Night” and their friends don’t know the difference. Zandar should be ashamed…
Mike in NC
Pretty soon the media will be pitching this doofus as a serious contender for VP.
Woodrowfan
@Frankensteinbeck:
that’s not true!
They don’t like immigrants/Hispanics or LGBTs either!!!
different-church-lady
a) Yet another reason to eschew social media
b) Remember: it’s the NSA who’s gonna to track your every move. Oh, wait…
delk
The hat from the Argentina picture is a prop belonging to the photographer. There are pictures of tourists wearing the same get up.
Villago Delenda Est
@Woodrowfan: White immigrants (think, ironically, the Irish) get a pass. Brown immigrants (your typical Hispanic) are definitely included in “those people”.
boatboy_srq
@Punchy: Something tells me that the bill was that high so he could keep on passing as an eligible bachelor. After all anyone who goes to a place like can’t possibly be one of Those People™.
C.V. Danes
@Botsplainer: Given that, then $1400 should translate into an extremely happy ending!
JustRuss
What does that mean? Does “they” refer to lawmakers or office funds? Lawmakers can use campaign funds to pay for everybody else on a private flight but not themselves? Maybe the coffee just hasn’t kicked in yet, but I’m confused.
Lurking Canadian
@Punchy: Doesn’t the word “parlor” in “massage parlor” kind of imply unsavory? The places where unsavory stuff isn’t happening are called massage “clinics”.
Gex
It’s the Jay-Z and Katy Perry that will sink him with the Birchers, not ethical issues. The only war that matters is the culture war against those others.
Tree With Water
I’ve observed that servants of mammon often possess eyes bigger than their stomachs.
Another Holocene Human
@Punchy: Maybe he rented it out or brought a bunch of friends? That was my first thought. They wouldn’t take cash over the table to procure illegal drugs … right? It’s supposed to be money laundering, if you hand out receipts you’re doin’ it rong.
Schock seems like the sort to pay people to be “friends” with him.
Another Holocene Human
@Joy: I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he gets primaried on RW radio by somebody even wingier.
shortstop
He is Illinois’ karmic retribution for kicking Joe Walsh out of our Congressional delegation…with less shouting and chair throwing.
pluky
@boatboy_srq: You forgot the quotes around “photographer.”