Former Schock Aide Says He Saw Warning Signs
From the Peoria Journal-Star
As the investigation into finances of former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock progresses, a former top aide has been sharing his story of red flags (including the fire-engine red paint job in Schock’s Washington office) that he saw along the way.
Benjamin Cole, the 39-year-old former senior adviser and communications chief for Schock, a Peoria Republican, told Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times that the first time he saw the new paint job, he told his boss: “This looks like Liberace’s drawing room. It’s way overdone, and I don’t think this is good.”
And Cole told Carol Felsenthal of Chicago magazine that Schock’s pictures of himself on Instagram, including one doing the tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were “getting out of control” and “creating the wrong impression.”
“I thought it was doing a disservice to him as a serious legislator,” he said.
Cole said the office decorating led him to peruse Shock’s spending records, and he found evidence of likely sloppiness or carelessness by staffers handling the books.
“At no time while I was working for Aaron did I ever think that he demonstrated a propensity or an inclination to defraud donors or taxpayers,” Cole told Sweet.
Cole is an ordained Southern Baptist minister originally from Texas. He also talked of his deep regret in making “flip remarks” in the past on Facebook about crime in his Washington, D.C., neighborhood — remarks that led to his resignation.
“I’m dismayed that I would have exercised such poor judgment and even jeopardized friendships and relationships (with people) who would otherwise have had no reason to question my commitment to racial justice,” he told Sweet.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Peoria Journal-Star
As the investigation into finances of former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock progresses, a former top aide has been sharing his story of red flags (including the fire-engine red paint job in Schock’s Washington office) that he saw along the way.
Benjamin Cole, the 39-year-old former senior adviser and communications chief for Schock, a Peoria Republican, told Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times that the first time he saw the new paint job, he told his boss: “This looks like Liberace’s drawing room. It’s way overdone, and I don’t think this is good.”
And Cole told Carol Felsenthal of Chicago magazine that Schock’s pictures of himself on Instagram, including one doing the tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were “getting out of control” and “creating the wrong impression.”
“I thought it was doing a disservice to him as a serious legislator,” he said.
Cole said the office decorating led him to peruse Shock’s spending records, and he found evidence of likely sloppiness or carelessness by staffers handling the books.
“At no time while I was working for Aaron did I ever think that he demonstrated a propensity or an inclination to defraud donors or taxpayers,” Cole told Sweet.
Cole is an ordained Southern Baptist minister originally from Texas. He also talked of his deep regret in making “flip remarks” in the past on Facebook about crime in his Washington, D.C., neighborhood — remarks that led to his resignation.
“I’m dismayed that I would have exercised such poor judgment and even jeopardized friendships and relationships (with people) who would otherwise have had no reason to question my commitment to racial justice,” he told Sweet.
Read more in our daily News Update...