Aaron Schock's Very Long Bad Day Continues

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 18, 2015 7:30PM

Fallout continues to rain down following the resignation of Representative Aaron Schock, who bowed out of Congress amid multiple scandals surrounding his lavish spending habits. Schock announced his resignation yesterday to the surprise of everyone including his staff and House colleagues—amid questions Politico raised about fraudulent mileage reimbursements.

Late yesterday afternoon, the Illinois Republican Party sent out one of the saddest statements we’ve seen, which didn’t even mention Schock by name. In an email, Chairman Tim Schneider said:

"Honesty and integrity are of utmost importance when serving the public. Today is an unfortunate day for the people of the 18th Congressional District, the State of Illinois, and the Illinois Republican Party."

According to an evening report from Politico, in addition to not informing his staff about his resignation, Schock neglected to tell...anyone. “As far as I know, no other member [of Congress] knew,” said Rep. John Shimkus.

Meanwhile, Schock’s father Richard, while probably attempting to be well-meaning, didn’t exactly help his son out. “Two years from now he'll be successful, if he's not in jail,” he told ABC in an interview outside his Peoria home. Dr. Richard Schock continued:

"If they're going to convict him on paperwork, then they're going to convict him. That's their privilege. They're out to get him and they're making issues out of things that really shouldn't be issues."

Unfortunately for Illinois taxpayers, Schock’s resignation over misspending our money could end up costing even more cash. According to the Peoria Journal Star, the bill for the special election Illinois will have to hold to replace him could be in upwards of $150,000. Steve Sonnemaker, Peoria County Clerk, told the Star the cost to the county for a primary and a general election could be between $75,000 and $80,000. But Tom Bride, executive director of the Peoria Election Commission, said that number could easily double.

Of course, people are still speculating that Schock's resignation is over something else, despite it being the 21st century where such speculation shouldn't be in any way scandalous, particularly in the face of such real and actual political corruption.

Alas, those hoping to catch a glimpse of the globe trotting Congressman's adventures pre-scandal are out of luck now, as the Chicago Tribune reports Schock set his Instagram to private. His Twitter account, though dormant, is still for the moment public.

Still, there’s a small silver lining in the clouds hovering over Schock. The Sun-Times reports he still controls political funds in excess of $3 million and provided he doesn’t end up in prison alongside so many other Illinois politicians, could collect a small federal pension of $17,748 when he turns 62.