Aaron Schock using campaign funds as ‘personal slush fund’ for himself and family

Well, you won’t see this in the pages of the Peoria Journal Star. A watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, today accused Congressman Aaron Schock of using campaign funds as a personal slush fund for himself and his family:


The report says Schock’s campaign committee reimbursed him for more than $150,000 over the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, including paying for a stay at a five-star hotel in Athens, Greece. His campaign committee also reimbursed his mother almost $24,000 during the same period.

“A campaign account is not a personal slush fund,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan.

“It’s hard to fathom how a hotel stay in Greece could be a legitimate campaign expense, but that accounts for only a small portion of the money Rep. Schock pocketed from his campaign. Conduct like this reinforces the widely held view that members of Congress are more interested in enriching themselves and their family members than in public service.”

Campaign records show Schock’s campaign committee reimbursed him over $150,000 during the 2008 and 2010 election cycles. More than $30,000 of these reimbursements were for hotels, including stays at high-end resorts in Athens and Miami.

Schock’s campaign committee also initially reported paying more than $300 to P90X, a fitness training DVD company, and classified it as a “health care” expense. Additionally, the campaign committee reimbursed his mother, Janice Knapp, almost $24,000 for various expenses over the same time frame.