--- title: Aaron Schock: These Are His Craziest Scandals description: Congress's most colorful member is facing some equally flashy scandals, from private jets to Katy Perry concerts. canonical: https://time.com/3739155/aaron-schock-scandals-congress/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-10T17:55:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:02:58.379Z article:section: Politics og:title: These Are Congressman Aaron Schock's Craziest Scandals og:description: Congress's most colorful member is facing some equally flashy scandals, from private jets to Katy Perry concerts. og:url: https://time.com/3739155/aaron-schock-scandals-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0812a7b2e0d4e120/698783093c16392449452321/aaron-schock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Aaron Schock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are Congressman Aaron Schock's Craziest Scandals twitter:description: Congress's most colorful member is facing some equally flashy scandals, from private jets to Katy Perry concerts. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0812a7b2e0d4e120/698783093c16392449452321/aaron-schock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Most Colorful Member of Congress Is Having Some Colorful Scandals > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 10, 2015 5:55 PM UTC  Representative Aaron Schock speaks to reporters in Peoria, Ill., on Feb. 6, 2015 Representative Aaron Schock speaks to reporters in Peoria, Ill., on Feb. 6, 2015 Seth Perlman—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 10, 2015 5:55 PM UTC One of Congress’ most colorful members is having some equally colorful scandals. Republican Rep. Aaron Schock of Illinois first made a name for himself in political circles in 2011 when he posed on the cover of _Men’s Health_. (Headline: [The Ripped Representative](http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/aaron-schock-fitness).) So it’s probably not surprising that when he ended up facing ethics questions before a congressional committee, the scandals would be equally unusual. Here’s a look at six problems that only Schock would face, in order from least to most _Schocking_. • He used taxpayer money [to take a private jet](http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/406349/rep-aaron-schock-taxpayer-money-private-plane-flight-bears-game) to a Chicago Bears game in November. • He went on a duty-free shopping spree in Buenos Aires in May using campaign money. [He said he bought gifts for donors, but wouldn’t say what](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/the-rise-and-fall-of-aaron-schock-115812.html). • He used taxpayer money [to hire a full-time photographer](http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/27/see-what-aaron-schock-spent-on-a-professional-photographer-interior-designer) to follow him around, which may be why his famous Instagram contains shots like this one: • He [took at least 10 staffers to a weekend in New York](http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/7/71/424390/rep-aaron-schock-bills-taxpayers-staffers-weekend-new-york) that cost over $10,000 in taxpayer money. • He [took his interns to a sold-out Katy Perry concert](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e2f1f52c3eb34caca7d74e5bf90f27f9/lawmaker-lavish-decor-billed-private-planes-concerts) in Washington, D.C., last June. • He redecorated his office on Capitol Hill to look like _Downton Abbey_, complete with “[massive arrangements of pheasant feathers](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/02/04/aaron-schock-plans-to-pay-decorator-for-his-downton-abbey-inspired-office/).” (Schock was in trouble for accepting the help of a decorator without paying her, though he later did.) Bonus points: When [asked about the decorations](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/02/04/aaron-schock-on-his-downton-abbey-office-decor-haters-are-gonna-hate/), he quoted Taylor Swift, saying “Haters gonna hate.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3739155/aaron-schock-scandals-congress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3739155/aaron-schock-scandals-congress/"},"headline":"The Most Colorful Member of Congress Is Having Some Colorful Scandals","datePublished":"2015-03-10T17:55:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:02:58.379Z","description":"\"Haters gonna hate\"","url":"https://time.com/3739155/aaron-schock-scandals-congress/","keywords":["Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0812a7b2e0d4e120/698783093c16392449452321/aaron-schock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0812a7b2e0d4e120/698783093c16392449452321/aaron-schock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Aaron Schock","caption":"Aaron Schock","creditText":"Seth Perlman—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3739155/aaron-schock-scandals-congress/","name":"The Most Colorful Member of Congress Is Having Some Colorful Scandals"}}]}] ```