Aaron “Shock-ingly” Resigns After Expenses Revealed

Aaron Shock shocked everyone when he resigned from Congress Tuesday March 17, 2015. The 33 year-old Congressman from Illinois had questionable reimbursements from driving his car from January 2010 to July 2014. Shock reported that he had driven about 170,000 miles on his car and was reimbursed by the government for his travel. When Shock transferred his Chevrolet Tahoe in July 2014 the odometer read that there were 81,860 miles. However, Shocked logged that he had driven 172,520 miles which is over 90,000 miles more than the odometer read. Meaning he hadn’t logged the miles correctly or he logged them incorrectly on purpose to receive more money for himself.

But when Shock made the announcement of his resignation, his a spokesperson later announced that the money that Shock was reimbursed was repaid. POLITICO first reported Shock’s statement,

“[T]he constant questions over the last six weeks have proven a great distraction that has made it too difficult for me to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standards that they deserve and which I have set for myself. Shock went onto say “I have always sought to do what’s best for my constituents, and I thank them for the opportunity to serve.”

After being elected in 2008 Shock had adopted a more lavish lifestyle where he would go off in private jets and eat at very expensive restaurants. It all eventually came to light after people started realizing that the math just didn’t add up. How was he able to afford all these luxuries? It was finally clear where Shock was getting the money to be able to afford his new lifestyle.

This hasn’t been the only time Shock used government money for personal reasons. He allegedly  used money from the government to make his office look like Lord Grantham’s from the  drama “Downton Abbey” and also been accused to have used more money to spend on private jet to go see a Chicago Bears game. Shock ended up paying back the money for both of these, but the fact still stands that he used the money.

When Shock spoke to POLITICO he was unable to decide if what he had done was illegal or if he had broken any rules by doing this. With Shock’s resignation, he will not be investigated from the Ethics Committee since he is no longer in office, however it is unsure if he may still be persecuted if it is found that he had committed a crime. Shock has already retained two lawyers just in case. Shock’s resignation goes into full affect at the end of the month and that is when the GOP will have to say goodbye to their most promising member.