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.)
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 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.
• He used taxpayer money to hire a full-time photographer 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 that cost over $10,000 in taxpayer money.
• He took his interns to a sold-out Katy Perry concert 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.” (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, he quoted Taylor Swift, saying “Haters gonna hate.”
