UPDATE: Feds agree to drop ALL charges in “deferred prosecution” deal.
Former GOP Rep. Aaron Schock has a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday morning in Chicago, and ABC7 is reporting that they’re hearing about a possible shake-up in the case. Schock is currently indicted on corruption charges including filing false tax returns, mail fraud, wire fraud, submitting false reports to the FEC, false statements, and theft of government funds, defrauding the government of more than $100,000.
ABC7 reports: ‘Now it appears there may be a dramatic shift in things. According to experts a possible scenario is that the government would reduce some of the 22 felonies to misdemeanors and that other charges would be dropped-offering a way out for Schock, that conceivably could allow him a return to politics. We haven’t heard back from Schock on this and neither his lawyers or the U.S. attorney in Chicago will specifically say what could change in the case.’
Schock recently appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear it.
Schock has been trying to get the charges, which originally numbered 24, thrown out for years.
In August 2017, Schock’s lawyers asked for the case to be dismissed because, according to the attorneys, witnesses were asked “distasteful, offensive,” and “prejudicial” questions about every part of Schock’s sex life including whether he is gay and if his girlfriend was a beard. The lawyers accused investigators of “prosecutorial misconduct on a variety of grounds” over the invasive questions and asked for the case to be dismissed.
Schock’s troubles began when photos of his Downton Abbey-inspired congressional office leaked and it was then discovered that he illegally accepted a designer’s services for free.
In March of 2015, the FBI began an investigation into Schock’s spending habits, an investigation that ultimately revealed “untoward allegations” about Schock that would damage his reputation, according to his lawyers. Schock faces a 24-count indictment for filing false tax returns and covering up fraud schemes, and using government and campaign funds improperly.
The disgraced anti-gay Illinois lawmaker resigned from his seat in 2015 after questions arose about his alleged misuse of funds.
