The former chief of staff to disgraced ex-Rep. Aaron Schock has found a new job working as a top aide to one of the Illinois Republican’s best friends in Congress, Rep. Jason Smith.
Smith, a Missouri Republican, hired Mark Roman as his new deputy chief of staff, Smith’s office confirmed to The Hill. He began his new job on Monday.
{mosads}Roman managed Schock’s office at the time the young congressman was facing questions about spending irregularities related to his official and campaign accounts. Schock resigned in March following weeks of negative press about his Downton Abbey-themed office, his use of taxpayer dollars to fly to a Chicago Bears game and false mileage reimbursements for driving his private vehicle, a Chevrolet Tahoe.
Roman is among several Schock staffers who’ve been called to testify before grand jury in Springfield, Ill., as part of a federal investigation into the congressman’s activities. Roman was also one of two staffers who flew with Schock on a private plane last year with an insurance executive from Schock’s hometown of Peoria, a trip that raised some ethical red flags, according to Politico.
Smith’s chief of staff, Josh Haynes, said in a phone interview he had “no concerns whatsoever” when asked about Roman’s work in Schock’s office.
“Mark is a talented guy who will fit in with our team really well,” said Haynes, who has known Roman for years.
Haynes had no comment when asked if Schock had referred Roman for the deputy job. Schock and Smith were among a handful of millennials in Congress, and they were close friends. On the morning of his resignation, Schock went for a walk with Smith near the Capitol, according to a news report.
Meanwhile, the red walls in Schock’s old office on the fifth floor of the Cannon building — part of his Downton decor — have already been covered with a coat of beige paint.
Last week, Republican Darin LaHood won a special election to replace Schock, and the state lawmaker is expected to bring in many of his own people as he looks for a fresh start representing Illinois’s 18th district.
Smith, 35, won a special election in June 2013 after Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) resigned to become president and CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Emerson has been away from work since last month, when she suffered a brain hemorrhage while vacationing in Italy.