Former IL Congressman Aaron Schock Was Secretly Recorded By Staffer-Turned-FBI Informant

By Stephen Gossett in News on Mar 29, 2017 8:31PM

Aaron Schock in 2008 (Getty Images)

The strange saga of indicted ex-Congressman Aaron Schock was even juicier than we previously knew. Court documents show that the former Illinois rep was brought down in part by a staffer who was wired by the FBI, according to multiple reports. Schock's legal team claims that the informant acted illegally when he also took messages and attempted to take other information from the disgraced rep's files.

The staffer isn't named in the defense motion, but The Hill notes that then-aide Bryan Rudolph fits the bill for what is described: "a male, 'fairly junior staffer' who was working as the office manager in the Peoria, Ill., district office," according to the inside-politics blog.

Politico breaks down the claims made by Schock's defense, which seeks to have charges dismissed, in more detail:

"Schock's attorneys assert the FBI informant "stole" thousands of messages from a House email account, tried to obtain "physical Congressional Office records that were Mr. Schock’s personal property," and attempted to "covertly record private conversations with and between Mr. Schock and his staff, including conversations where attorney-client privileged communications were discussed.

The defense claims that some of those procurements were made well after Schock’s resignation, according to Salon. Court documents showed that the informant took travel receipts and credit card statements from the desk of then-chief-of-staff Dayne LaHood, according to The Hill and Salon.

while the House sergeant-at-arms was overseeing his vacated office, the defense motion alleges that the FBI informant went through the desk of Dayne LaHood, then chief of staff, at the direction of an FBI supervisor and removed fuel receipts, which included Schock’s American Express card information.

Schock was indicted last year on two dozen counts of budget and campaign-fund mismanagement. He resigned from office as representative of the state's 11th district in March, 2015 amidst a wave of spending scandals. The most infamous spending red flag came when it was revealed that Schock reportedly had his offices redone to mimic Downton Abbey, which was the style at the time. Seriously. Schock insists that any misappropriation of money is on paper only.