Aug. 10--Court papers from a legal fight over which congressional and campaign finance records former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock must turn over show that he was served with a grand jury subpoena March 31, his last day in office.
Schock in April filed an emergency motion to quash his subpoena, calling it "oppressive and unreasonable," and accusing the government of misconduct, according to the redacted court papers, which were released Monday by U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough in Springfield.
From April 9 through June 8, Schock refused to produce a single page of congressional or campaign documents, the papers show. He has since asserted various privileges to try to limit prosecutors' access to some records, the papers show.
Government prosecutors had been seeking to have Schock held in civil contempt to enforce the subpoenas, which also seek campaign finance records held by his congressional offices.
The released documents indicate there was a weekslong fight over the production of records.
In addition to the subpoena for Schock's records, the former Republican lawmaker's offices in Washington and Peoria received subpoenas in mid-March seeking certain financial records dating to 2010, the papers show.
Schock, 34, resigned amid questions about his use of his office allowance and campaign dollars. An array of spending is under scrutiny: excessive reimbursements for auto mileage, a "Downton Abbey"-style redecoration of his Capitol Hill office, travel on private aircraft and unreported trips abroad.
His ties to donor-friends also have triggered interest.
First elected in 2008, the telegenic lawmaker had been a rising star in the GOP until he stepped down early in his fourth term.
He has invoked constitutional privileges to try to keep some records out of the hands of government lawyers.
Lawyers for the House of Representatives filed a friend of the court brief in July to challenge a Department of Justice contention that some of the records produced by Schock and his staff do not belong to him.
The House lawyers said members of Congress are the exclusive owners of the congressional records they or their staffs create or receive during a lawmaker's service in office. The House lawyers said lawmakers are covered by the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination, the same as every other person.
"The House does not submit this memorandum for the purpose of defending or protecting former Congressman Schock," the House lawyers wrote. "Rather, it does so because of the House's own substantial institutional interest in the ... issue."
kskiba@tribpub.com
