Gay Republican Congressman Suddenly And Inexplicably Let Off With A Slap On The Wrist

Disgraced former congressman Aaron Schock has been successful in dragging out his corruption case for 4 years. He kept trying to get the case dismissed and the courts kept telling him no. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court declined to get involved, refusing to overrule the lower courts. It looked like the end of the road for a congressman who was desperate not to wind up as anyone's bitch in prison. WLS, the ABC affiliate in Chicago, reported this morning that something may be about to change drastically in the case.

The one-time rising star of the Illinois Republican party resigned his Peoria Congressional seat in 2015 on accusations of misspending campaign funds on lavish personal expenses. Since the beginning the case has been laden with problems and it ended up being moved from Urbana to Chicago.

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.

And before noon-- BOOM! Reporting for the Chicago Tribune, Jason Meisner wrote that "In a surprise move for a high-profile public corruption case, federal prosecutors in Chicago have agreed to drop all charges against former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock if he pays back money he owes to the Internal Revenue Service and his campaign fund. The stunning deal, known as a deferred prosecution agreement, was announced Wednesday during what was supposed to be a routine status hearing for Schock before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly... The bombshell development in Schock’s case comes weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up his appeal. His lawyers had unsuccessfully tried to get the indictment thrown out, saying the charges were based on ambiguous House rules in violation of separation-of-power clauses in the Constitution." So far no one knows what strings were pulled where to make the feds drop what looked like an open-and-shut case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Hogstrom called the deal with Schock a "fair and sensible resolution to this matter," claiming, incongruously that Schock is taking "appropriate public accountability for his conduct." The feds have been working this case for four years and all Hogstrom was willing to say was that Schock had no prior criminal record and that he did, after all, resign from Congress.

According to the agreement, Schock, 37, must pay $42,000 to the IRS and $68,000 to his congressional campaign fund. If he does so-- and stays out of any new trouble-- prosecutors would drop all felony counts against Schock, leaving him with a clean record.

As part of the deal, Schock’s campaign committee, Schock for Congress, will plead guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor count of failing to properly report expenses.

Kennelly approved the plea deal after prosecutors said they had taken a fresh look at the charges and decided this would be a “fair and just” outcome, especially given that Schock has no criminal record and resigned from public office.

Aaron's 2 big congressional crushes were Mikey Suits (R-NY), pictured here, and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)

Schock, once considered a rising star in the Republican Party, resigned in 2015 amid the federal investigation into his use of his campaign funds and House allowance to pay personal expenses ranging from an extravagant remodeling of his Washington office inspired by the British television series Downton Abbey to flying on a private plane to attend a Chicago Bears game.

Schock was charged in a 24-count indictment in November 2016 with wire fraud, mail fraud, theft of government funds, making false statements, filing false reports with federal election officials and filing false tax returns. A judge later dismissed two of those counts.

The former congressman had been scheduled to go to trial June 10 in federal court in Chicago. The case had been reassigned to Kennelly last August from the U.S. District Court in Urbana after the judge there was accused of improper conduct in an unrelated case.

Wedding bells for Schock and British Olympic driver Tom Daley?

The deferred prosecution could mean that Schock’s once-promising political career isn’t necessarily over since he avoid a felony conviction.

Schock was crowing like a mad man already, claiming that this "outcome validates this case should have never been started in the first place... It should not have taken four years, two U.S. attorney’s offices, three judges and millions of dollars in costs to the taxpayers and myself to come to this conclusion. Justice wielded irresponsibly is wrong, and it puts our constitutional rights at risk." This is what happens when congressional criminals are let off with a slap on the wrist. And, yes, he can run for office again.