It has been more than four months since Aaron Schock resigned from office, after NBC5 Investigates and other news organizations raised questions about how he was spending his campaign money and congressional funds. But new documents filed last Friday with the Federal Election Commission show the former Peoria congressmanis still spending his campaign money, even as he’s under federal investigation.
NBC5 Investigates found that since resigning from office Schock has paid more than $1 million in legal fees, to seven different law firms, from his main campaign fund, Schock for Congress.
He has also drawn from that fund and two others – the Schock Victory Committee and his Leadership PAC, the GOP Generation Y Fund – to issue refunds to some of his donors, totaling more $95,900.00.
But even after the legal fees and refunds, Schock still has more than $2.2 million in campaign money in the three funds.
NBC5 Investigates examined the most recent disclosures for all three of Schock’s campaign committees, focusing on expenditures from mid-May on – a full two months after Schock stepped down from Congress.
On May 19, the GOP Generation Y Fund transferred $22,081.92 to Schock for Congress, with a notation that the full amount was paid to The Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado. The Little Nell is a ski resort which describes itself as “one of the few Five-Star, Five-Diamond hotels in North America.”
The campaign disclosure describes the expenditure as “PAC Event Facility Rental,” with no additional explanation. As NBC5 has reported, Leadership PACs such as Schock’s are not required to provide more than a two- or three-word description about how or why they spend their money.
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Schock continued to pay out campaign money in mid-June – three months after resigning from Congress – including $3,870.86 for airfare, car-rental, and what appears to be a last-minute hotel room. And he paid two bills to the car service Uber, totaling $1,287.46, in May and June alone.
In addition to the new campaign disclosures filed on Friday, Schock also filed his 2014 Financial Disclosure Statement with Congress. In it, he finally discloses his purchase of a business called Menards Peoria LLC.
NBC5 Investigates revealed the existence of this company last spring and tried repeatedly to get details from Schock, with no response. The disclosure statement filed Friday reveals that he bought the company in May of 2014, paying somewhere between $500 thousand and $1 million for it, but there are no further details about exactly what the company is. (The home-improvement store Menard’s confirms that it has no association with Schock’s company.)
The former congressman was summoned last week to Federal District Court in Springfield, to answer allegations that he had not provided all information and documents requested as part of a federal investigation. Schock’s attorney says the former congressman is cooperating fully.
NBC5 Investigates attempted to contact Schock for comment, but did not get a response.
