Report: Schock used taxpayer funds to fly to Bears game

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) flew from his district to Chicago to attend a Chicago Bears football game last season in a private plane paid for by taxpayer money, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

{mosads}The lawmaker skipped the freeway and the three-hour drive in favor of the less than one-hour flight, the newspaper reported. That could be a violation of House rules, which place heavy restrictions on using taxpayer money for private flights.

It’s the latest in a slew of allegations against the Illinois Republican.

A Washington Post reporter earlier this year stumbled into his congressional office and discovered extremely ornate decorations. Schock’s communications staff tried to keep the reporter from taking pictures in the office and the office’s decorator said she had redone the office for free. That raised eyebrows, as lawmakers aren’t supposed to accept gifts over a certain threshold.

USA Today then reported that Schock spent more than $100,000 on other office renovations, as well as tens of thousands of dollars on charter flights and concerts.

The Associated Press uncovered even more flights, using the congressman’s Instagram photos to find destinations and that he took his interns to a sold-out Katy Perry concert. His office told The Associated Press after its report last week that Schock is reviewing his policies “to determine whether they can be improved.”

In 2013, the Office of Congressional Ethics said there is “substantial reason to believe Representative Schock violated federal law, House rules, and standards of conduct,” in soliciting donations above a mandated cap.

–This post was updated to fix a link.