--- title: Former Donors Sue Disgraced Congressman Aaron Schock description: A class-action lawsuit has been filed against former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, who recently resigned amid concerns over his lavish spending. canonical: https://time.com/3822715/aaron-schock-class-action-lawsuit/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-15T16:35:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:24:57.017Z article:section: Politics og:title: Former Donors Sue Disgraced Congressman Aaron Schock og:description: They argue he misrepresented himself as ethical in his campaigns. og:url: https://time.com/3822715/aaron-schock-class-action-lawsuit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7422e30f9c51bf5e/6987eb3b428a9e72a3ccaec2/aaron-schock1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Congressman Expenses og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Former Donors Sue Disgraced Congressman Aaron Schock twitter:description: They argue he misrepresented himself as ethical in his campaigns. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7422e30f9c51bf5e/6987eb3b428a9e72a3ccaec2/aaron-schock1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Former Donors Sue Disgraced Congressman Aaron Schock > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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 Apr 15, 2015 4:35 PM UTC  U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., gives a news conference regarding his recent spending controversies outside his office in Peoria, Ill. March 6, 2015. U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., gives a news conference regarding his recent spending controversies outside his office in Peoria, Ill. March 6, 2015. Ron Johnson—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 15, 2015 4:35 PM UTC Some of former Rep. Aaron Schock’s donors are suing him, arguing that he misrepresented himself as an honest and ethical politician during his campaign. The [class-action lawsuit](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/foster%5Fv%5Fschock%5F-%5Fclass%5Faction%5Fcomplaint%5F-%5F15-cv-3325.pdf) seeks refunds for thousands of the Illinois Republican’s donors who were allegedly swindled by a “campaign full of corruption and lies about his integrity,” according to a statement by the plaintiffs’ law firm, Hagens Berman. Schock was accused of improperly using taxpayer money to take a private jet to a Chicago Bears game, using campaign money for a duty-free shopping spree in Buenos Aires and a number of [other colorful scandals](http://time.com/3739155/aaron-schock-scandals-congress/). The Justice Department has already [launched a criminal investigation](http://time.com/3752608/fbi-aaron-schock-illinois/). Filed on April 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the lawsuit is based on racketeering and common-law fraud, among other things. But political lawyers are skeptical about the legal reasoning, noting that campaign donations are not guarantees. “By definition, campaign contributions must be ‘donations’ unaccompanied by any expectation of a ‘quid pro quo’ return,” said Stefan Passantino, head of McKenna Long & Aldridge’s political law team. Craig Engle, founder of the Arent Fox political law group, said that donors can ask for a refund if they gave money for a race the candidate never ended up running or if they accidentally gave too much (for example, a donor who gave $2,800 in a race where donations are legally capped at $2,600 is entitled to a $200 refund). “I think what you have here is a moral obligation that the congressman has a lot of explaining to do, but certifying a class action of donors and giving them a right to a refund under the racketeering statutes, I don’t see that going forward,” he said. Passantino agreed. “My impression is that this document reads more as a political document for public consumption than anything,” he said. “The investigation and enforcement of these allegations belongs with the (Federal Election Commission) and the Justice Department Public Integrity Section.” _Read next:_ [_Meghan McCain: Aaron Schock Embarrassed and Betrayed Millennial Republicans_](http://time.com/3750897/meghan-mccain-aaron-schock-embarrassed-and-betrayed-millennial-republicans/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3822715/aaron-schock-class-action-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3822715/aaron-schock-class-action-lawsuit/"},"headline":"Former Donors Sue Disgraced Congressman Aaron Schock","datePublished":"2015-04-15T16:35:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:24:57.017Z","description":"A class-action lawsuit has been filed against former U.S. Rep. 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