That Young Illinois Congressman with Great Abs Has Resigned as Questions About His Spending Get Serious

The downstate Illinois congressman with picture-perfect abs and an Instagram account to match announced on Tuesday his resignation from Congress, a decision that follows revelations he used both taxpayer and campaign money to underwrite a lifestyle of lavish expense.

Aaron Schock, mocked widely in recent months for making over his congressional office in a costly Downton Abbey theme, will leave office on March 31. The governor must call a special election to replace him within 120 days.

Schock has missed a number of appearances in recent days and the conservative Republican, who was regarded as somewhat of a right-wing wunderkind in recent years, now appears to be in hiding, reports CBS Chicago.

“This is a sad day for the people of Illinois and the 18th District,” Gov. Bruce Rauner said in a statement.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wasn’t so sad, however.

“He did oppose President Obama’s health care [bill]. It passed. He did oppose financial reforms that put tighter regulations over the banks. It passed. He did oppose expanding children’s health care insurance for the children of uninsured parents who work full-time. It passed. He did oppose tighter regulations on tobacco companies to protect our kids. It passed,” Emanuel told Chicago Sun-Times city hall reporter Fran Spielman on Tuesday, reflecting on his own time as President Obama’s chief of staff. “I would say he was wrong for the future of the city of Chicago.”

The Office of Congressional Ethics contacted associates of the congressman on Feb. 28 to review ethics complaints lodged against Schock. The Federal Elections Commission and the Justice Department also may investigate Schock’s financial activities.

On Monday, Politico revealed that the congressman received tens of thousands of dollars in mileage reimbursements, well in excess of the actual mileage on the vehicle he used for his trips. How much more?

Schock billed the federal government and his campaign for logging roughly 170,000 miles on his personal car from January 2010 through July 2014. But when he sold that Chevrolet Tahoe in July 2014, it had roughly 80,000 miles on the odometer, according to public records obtained by POLITICO under Illinois open records laws. The documents, in other words, indicate he was reimbursed for 90,000 miles more than his car was driven.

”In an effort to remove any questions and out of an abundance of caution, Congressman Schock has reimbursed all monies received for official mileage since his election to Congress,” a spokesman said on Tuesday afternoon.

The resignation of the 33-year-old congressman — dubbed the “hottest freshman in Congress” by the Huffington Post in 2009, which in turn led to a GQ photo shoot — came suddenly.

“... 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 said in a statement on Tuesday. “I have always sought to do what’s best for my constituents, and I thank them for the opportunity to serve.”

» ALSO ON PATCH: 16,200 Items Up for Bid in Illinois Unclaimed Property Auction

Allegations that Schock misused taxpayer and campaign cash have dogged him for years.

In 2012, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) claimed that he used his campaign funds for five-star hotels, cash for his mother and exercise programs, including P90X.

Schock also accepted money from a group to pay for an August 2014 trip to India, reports the National Journal, noting that money was improperly accepted and not publicly disclosed. The cash paid for the congressman and a male companion, a photographer, who posted pictures of the trip on Schock’s Instagram account.

The men stayed in luxury hotels but the congressman’s disclosure form stated that he lodged in $150-a-night hotels.

Other spending also has been called into question, notes the National Journal:

In recent weeks, Schock has been hounded by accusations that he misreported a private flight as a software expense and inappropriately spent taxpayer money to take staffers to New York City and to fly himself on a private jet to Chicago to attend an NFL game.

The public scrutiny of Schock’s spending habits accelerated after a report he spent tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money and improperly accepted free interior decorating services to redecorate his Washington office to resemble a scene from the PBS show “Downton Abbey.” Schock reimbursed the Treasury $1,200 for the private jet ride and paid the decorator $40,000 out of his own pocket after the reports became public.

Schock got his start in politics as a 19-year-old school board member in Peoria, a working-class town in central Illinois best known for farming, Caterpillar tractors and the birthplace of Richard Pryor.

While some in Peoria were surprised by Schock’s sudden fall from grace, Andy Moon wasn’t. He told the hometown newspaper, the Peoria Journal-Star, he thought something was amiss when he heard about a real estate deal Schock was involved in.

“I thought, ‘Boy, that guy’s in a bunch of trouble,’” Moon said.

MORE COVERAGE IN THE PEORIA JOURNAL-STAR

• READ Reactions to Schock’s exit range from indifference to sadness in Peoria

• VIEW Aaron Schock’s career in pictures

• READ Time line of Aaron Schock’s political career

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