Politics

U.S. Opens Criminal Inquiry of Resigning Illinois Congressman

Published

9 years ago

March 21, 2015

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2015, file photo, Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill. speaks to reporters in Peoria Ill. According to a source, the Justice Department is investigating possible criminal violations by resigning Illinois congressman. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

In this Feb. 6, 2015, file photo, Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill. speaks to reporters in Peoria Ill. According to a source, the Justice Department is investigating possible criminal violations by resigning Illinois congressman. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Jack Gillum, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating the congressional expenses and business deals of Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, and FBI agents have begun issuing subpoenas to witnesses, a person familiar with the case told The Associated Press on Friday.

Investigators were focusing on Schock’s House office expense account, expenditures by his re-election campaign and his personal investments with long-time political donors, the person said. Schock, 33, a young, media-savvy Republican, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday after weeks of mounting media reports about questionable expenditures and personal finances.

The government was convening a federal grand jury in Springfield, Illinois, according to the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the case. The person also said that FBI agents were visiting people close to the Republican congressman who were being compelled by subpoena to testify. The grand jury was hearing testimony in early April, according to the subpoenas.

A spokesman and lawyers for Schock did not respond to repeated phone calls and emails Friday from AP.

Schock’s sudden resignation followed revelations over six weeks about his business deals and lavish spending on travel, personal mileage reimbursements and office redecorating in the style of “Downton Abbey.” Congressional ethics investigators had begun probing Schock’s conduct in the days before his announcement, but that probe was expected to shut down because of the federal investigation.

Questions have included Associated Press investigations of Schock’s real estate transactions, air travel and entertainment expenses — including some events that Schock documented in photographs on his Instagram account. On Monday, the AP confirmed that the Office of Congressional Ethics had reached out to Schock’s associates as it apparently began an investigation.

The owner of an air charter service in Peoria confirmed Friday that he had been contacted by an ethics investigator interested in Schock’s extensive flights on planes owned by campaign donors. Harrel W. Timmons, owner of Jet Air Inc., was not a Schock donor but said the investigator wanted to know about the lawmaker’s flights on a plane owned by D&B Air, a Peoria aviation firm owned by a prominent Schock donor.

AP previously reported that Schock’s use of the D&B plane appeared to violate congressional rules in place at the time prohibiting the use of office accounts to pay for private flights. Schock had used office expenses to pay $24,000 for eight flights in 2011 and 2012. Since mid-2011, Schock’s office and campaign expenses paid for more than $40,000 worth of flights on planes owned by his political donors.

House ethics investigators typically stand down open inquiries once federal authorities open their own probe or when the House Ethics Committee orders a halt in the inquiry. The OCE had been authorized to continue its inquiry until Schock’s planned March 31 resignation. His decision to quit has no impact on the FBI investigation.

Earlier this week, Schock’s father, Richard, told an ABC reporter: “Two years from now he’ll be successful, if he’s not in jail.”

“If you’re going to investigate his real estate dealings, etc., then find out the facts,” Richard Schock said. “The facts are what are going to convict him or exonerate him.”

The AP reported last week that much of Schock’s personal wealth, estimated at about $1.4 million, grew from a series of real estate deals involving other long-time political donors. Schock’s political contributors built, financed and later purchased a house the lawmaker owned as an investment in Peoria. He owns a stake in a Peoria apartment complex involving other contributors. And he pushed for a federal appropriation that would have benefitted a donor’s development project.

Schock’s expenses came under scrutiny last month after the Washington Post reported that Schock had paid $40,000 from his House expense account for a lavish office redecoration modeled on decor depicted in the TV serial “Downton Abbey.” Reports by Politico and other news organizations also singled outSchock’s unusually high, personal reimbursements for auto mileage.

Schock responded to the growing scrutiny by paying back his office decorator $40,000. The day of his resignation, Schock also paid back his mileage expenses, but his spokesman did not say how much he had repaid.

In resigning abruptly on Tuesday, Schock cited a “heavy heart,” following six weeks of revelations about his business deals. He said in a statement that the constant questions about his spending and business dealings had made it impossible to serve effectively as congressman.

House Speaker John Boehner was not informed of Schock’s resignation before it was announced but has said he supported the decision to quit.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Elections Committee also confirmed Friday that staff lawyers were reviewing a complaint from a liberal-leaning watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The group complained Feb. 26 that two political committees associated with Schock paid more than $9,000 for flights on donor planes. The FEC does not investigate complaints until the full committee votes on the matter. That has not happened, the spokeswoman said.

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Associated Press writer Kerry Lester contributed to this report from Peoria, Ill.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced last week that they are backing a bill introduced by the state legislative women’s caucus that would allow Arizona-based doctors to provide abortion care in California to patients from Arizona. Senate Bill (SB) 233 was authored in response to the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision on April 9 that an 1864 ban on abortion in the state is enforceable.

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Senate Bill (SB) 233 was authored in response to the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision on April 9 that an 1864 ban on abortion in the state is enforceable. The bill also aims to counter growing support for anti-abortion legislation in states with Republican-majority legislatures since Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to supporters.

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Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus said that abortion bans are based on laws that set women back to a time when they had limited human rights.

“Anti-abortion forces have resurrected a dead law passed at a time when women couldn’t vote and husbands beating their wives was lawful,” Skinner said.

On April 24, the Arizona House of Representatives voted to repeal the 1864 abortion ban. It now moves to the Arizona Senate for deliberation.

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Last week, California U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler, both Democrats, announced their support for a resolution that recognizes the significance of local news. In the resolution dated April 23, Padilla and Butler joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i) and 10 other colleagues in designating April as “Preserving and Protecting Local News Month.”

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Last week, California U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler, both Democrats, announced their support for a resolution that recognizes the significance of local news.

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“It is critical that we recognize the role our local press plays in keeping people informed on the world around them,” she said.

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Advocates from across California are challenging state officials and community leaders to support legislation that provides resources and services for survivors and victims of human trafficking, as well as assistance as they transition back into civil society.  Some of those advocates are also calling for more effective state policy to curtail trafficking, a crime that has an outsized impact on Black children, particularly girls.

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Some of those advocates are also calling for more effective state policy to curtail trafficking, a crime that has an outsized impact on Black children, particularly girls.

According to the FBI, a report covering a two-year period found Black children accounted for 57% of all juvenile arrests for prostitution. In addition, 40% of sex trafficking victims were Black and 60% of those victims had been enrolled in the foster care system.

“It is time to hold the perpetrators who take advantage of our children accountable,” said the Rev. Shane Harris, a San Diego-based activist, former foster youth and founder of the Peoples Association of Justice Advocates, (PAJA), a national civil rights organization and policy think tank.

“It is time to send a thorough message that if you seek to buy a child for sex, you will pay the highest criminal penalties in this state,” added Harris who was speaking at a rally at the State Capitol earlier this month. Harris was speaking in support of Senate Bill 1414, authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (D-Bakersfield), which calls for people who buy sex from minors to be punished with a felony. The punishment includes a two-year prison sentence and a $25,000 fine.

Harris said the PAJA is the only civil rights organization in the state that supports SB 1414.

Harris urged other Black-led groups who favor anti-trafficking legislation more focused on criminal justice reforms (as opposed to stiffer penalties), to “join the movement.”

Many of those civil rights groups fear that SB 1414 could lead to the incarceration of more Black youth.

Those sentiments were echoed in a panel discussion organized by Black women advocates on April 26 to examine the cause and effects of human trafficking in California’s Black communities. The virtual event was hosted by the Forgotten Children, Inc, a faith-based nonprofit that advocates for survivors and victims of human trafficking through anti-trafficking campaigns and initiatives.

Panelists shared the psychological impact of sexual exploitation on youth and children in the long term.

Author and educator Dr. Stephany Powell shared statistics and information revealing that African American women and girls are the most trafficked nationwide.

Powell, who serves as the senior advisor on law enforcement and policy at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said that national data indicates that sex trade survivors are disproportionately women of color. She stated that male survivors often go unnoticed because boys rarely report trafficked crimes.

Powell said that decriminalizing prostitution in California could increase human trafficking. She argued that Senate Bill 357, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), which was signed into law in 2022 and legalized loitering for prostitution, caused a surge in street-level prostitution.

Panelist and psychologist Dr. Gloria Morrow shared opposing views on decriminalizing prostitution. She said that decriminalizing prostitution could help survivors gain access to state resources and support.

Despite opposing views, Powell and Morrow agree that the Black community needs resources and educational programs to address human trafficking.