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Romney Supporting Congressman “Pocketed” $150,000 In Campaign Funds Says CREW

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Aaron Schock — the Republican Congressman best known not for his policies but for his pecs and abs — stands accused by CREW of using more than $150,000 of his campaign funds as a “slush fund,” including over $300 to purchase the popular P90X workout DVDs. CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also accused Rep. Schock’s mother of benefitting from more than $24,000 in campaign funds. Labeling Rep. Aaron Schock’s behavior “egregious,” the CREW report, Family Affair, accuses “a shocking 248 House members used their positions to financially benefit themselves or family members.”

“In the case of Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL), the young congressman from Illinois’ campaign committee reimbursed him more than $150,000 over the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, including paying for a stay at a five-star hotel in Athens, Greece.  His campaign committee also reimbursed his mother almost $24,000 during the same time frame,” CREW states, adding:

“A campaign account is not a personal slush fund,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan.  “It’s hard to fathom how a hotel stay in Greece could be a legitimate campaign expense, but that accounts for only a small portion of the money Rep. Schock pocketed from his campaign.  Conduct like this reinforces the widely held view that members of Congress are more interested in enriching themselves and their family members than in public service.”

Campaign records show Rep. Schock’s campaign committee reimbursed him over $150,000 during the 2008 and 2010 election cycles.  More than $30,000 of these reimbursements were for hotels, including stays at high-end resorts in Athens and Miami.  Rep. Schock’s campaign committee also initially reported paying more than $300 to P90X, a fitness training DVD company, and classified it as a “health care” expense.  Additionally, Rep. Schock’s campaign committee reimbursed his mother, Janice Knapp, almost $24,000 for various expenses over the same time frame.

Rep. Schock is an early Mitt-Romney supporter, who earlier this month told NPR, “No one who has hired Gov. Romney has been disappointed or sorry they did, and I think that really distinguishes himself from some of the other candidates.”

In 2001, Rep. Schock “co-sponsored Sanctity of Human Life Act,” which states that “each human life begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent, at which time every human has all legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood,” according to OnTheIssues. Rep. Schock also co-sponsored the  co-sponsored Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act which prohibits federal funding to groups like Planned Parenthood.

The Huffington Post notes:

Most surprising was a $319 “healthcare” expense paid on the “hottie” congressman’s behalf to P90X, a fitness training company, according to CREW’s report. Schock’s critics have noted that this inclusion of healthcare expenses in his campaign budget contradicts the congressman’s voting record opposing the inclusion of healthcare maintenance costs in President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

“A lot of what other people did is not illegal,” Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, told the Peoria Journal-Star. “What Aaron Schock did crossed the line.”

Schock’s spokespeople say that the P90X charge was mistakenly filed with the Federal Election Commission and that Schock personally paid for the cost of the DVD, according to the International Business Times. The other charges were related to “reasonable expenses directly related to either campaign expenditures or fund-raising costs,” a spokesperson told the Times.

This is far fromt he first time the young Republican’s physique has made headlines: in 2009 he was named the “Hottest Freshman” Congressional Representative, and last year he graced the cover of Men’s Health magazine shirtless.

In May of 2011, Schock was indeed Men’s Health’s cover model. In a profile titled, “The Ripped Representative,” Men’s Health noted, “Aaron Schock is challenging you to lose weight and get healthier this summer. Take the Fit for Life Summer Challenge and see the program that will help you drop 10, 20, or 30 pounds and slash your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and many other diseases dramatically!”

And Schock did pen a post:

With the Fit for Life Summer Challenge, I’m challenging you—and all Americans—to sign up for an easy fitness plan than can help you drop 10, 20, even 30 pounds or more by Labor Day and get in the best shape of your life. I’ve teamed with Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines to design a program that’s so easy and effective that I know it will work for you. (And it’s free.) By the end of the summer, you can slash your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and many other diseases dramatically.

How does that help America? Consider this: Health care may be the single biggest factor in our nation’s ongoing budget crisis. Yet 8 out of every 10 dollars we spend on health care is spent on diseases that are preventable; if only we took better care of ourselves. Think of the billions of dollars we could use for better infrastructure, renewable energy, and job creation. Not to mention a little more cash in your pocket.

The Men’s Health Facebook page that featured Rep. Schock’s cover also featured over 50 comments, most not especially supportive of the Congressman.

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OPINION

‘I Hope You Find Happiness’: Moskowitz Trolls Comer Over Impeachment Fail

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April 24, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is mocking House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer over a CNN report revealing the embattled Kentucky Republican who has been alleging without proof President Joe Biden is the head of a vast multi-million dollar criminal bribery and influence-peddling conspiracy, has given up trying to impeach the leader of the free world.

CNN on Wednesday had reported, “after 15 months of coming up short in proving some of his biggest claims against the president, Comer recently approached one of his Republican colleagues and made a blunt admission: He was ready to be ‘done with’ the impeachment inquiry into Biden.” The news network described Chairman Comer as “frustrated” and his investigation as “at a dead end.”

One GOP lawmaker told CNN, “Comer is hoping Jesus comes so he can get out.”

“He is fed up,” the Republican added.

Despite the Chairman’s alleged remarks, “a House Oversight Committee spokesperson maintains that ‘the impeachment inquiry is ongoing and impeachment is 100% still on the table.'”

RELATED: ‘Used by the Russians’: Moskowitz Mocks Comer’s Biden Impeachment Failure

Last week, Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) got into a shouting match with Chairman Comer, with the Maryland Democrat saying, “You have not identified a single crime – what is the crime that you want to impeach Joe Biden for and keep this nonsense going?” and Comer replying, “You’re about to find out.”

Before those heated remarks, Congressman Raskin chided Comer, humorously threatening to invite Rep. Moskowitz to return to the hearing.

Congressman Moskowitz appears to be the only member of the House Oversight Committee who has ever made a motion to call for a vote on impeaching President Biden, which he did last month, although he did it to ridicule Chairman Comer.

It appears the Moskowitz-Comer “bromance” may be over.

Wednesday afternoon Congressman Moskowitz, whose sarcasm is becoming well-known, used it to ridicule Chairman Comer.

“I was hoping our breakup would never become public,” he declared. “We had such a great thing while it lasted James. I will miss the time we spent together. I will miss our conversations. I will miss the pet names you gave me. I only wish you the best and hope you find happiness.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

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OPINION

‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

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April 24, 2024

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The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case centered on the question, can the federal government require states with strict abortion bans to allow physicians to perform abortions in emergency situations, specifically when the woman’s health, but not her life, is in danger?

The 1986 federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), signed into law by Republican President Ronald Reagan, says it can. The State of Idaho on Wednesday argued it cannot.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, The Washington Post’s Kim Bellware reported, “made a clear delineation between Idaho law and what EMTALA provides.”

“In Idaho, doctors have to shut their eyes to everything except death,” Prelogar said, according to Bellware. “Whereas under EMTALA, you’re supposed to be thinking about things like, ‘Is she about to lose her fertility? Is her uterus going to become incredibly scarred because of the bleeding? Is she about to undergo the possibility of kidney failure?’ ”

READ MORE: Gag Order Breach? Trump Targeted Cohen in Taped Interview Hours Before Contempt Hearing

Attorney Imani Gandy, an award-winning journalist and Editor-at-Large for Rewire News Group, highlighted an issue central to the case.

“The issue of medical judgment vs. good faith judgment is a huge one because different states have different standards of judgment,” she writes. “If a doctor exercises their judgment, another doctor expert witness at trial could question that. That’s a BIG problem here. That’s why doctors are afraid to provide abortions. They may have an overzealous prosecutor come behind them and disagree.”

Right-wing Justice Samuel Alito appeared to draw the most fire from legal experts, as his questioning suggested “fetal personhood” should be the law, which it is not.

“Justice Alito is trying to import fetal personhood into federal statutory law by suggesting federal law might well prohibit hospitals from providing abortions as emergency stabilizing care,” observed Constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis.

Paraphrasing Justice Alito, Kreis writes: “Alito: How can the federal government restrict what Idaho criminalizes simply because hospitals in Idaho have accepted federal funds?”

Appearing to answer that question, Georgia State University College of Law professor of law and Constitutional scholar Eric Segall wrote: “Our Constitution unequivocally allows the federal gov’t to offer the states money with conditions attached no matter how invasive b/c states can always say no. The conservative justices’ hostility to the spending power is based only on politics and values not text or history.”

Professor Segall also served up some of the strongest criticism of the right-wing justice.

READ MORE: ‘They Will Have Thugs?’: Lara Trump’s Claim RNC Will ‘Physically Handle the Ballots’ Stuns

He wrote that Justice Alito “is basically making it clear he doesn’t care if pregnant women live or die as long as the fetus lives.”

Earlier Wednesday morning Segall had issued a warning: “Trigger alert: In about 20 minutes several of the conservative justices are going to show very clearly that that they care much more about fetuses than women suffering major pregnancy complications which is their way of owning the libs which is grotesque.”

Later, predicting “Alito is going to dissent,” Segall wrote: “Alito is dripping arrogance and condescension…in a case involving life, death, and medical emergencies. He has no bottom.”

Taking a broader view of the case, NYU professor of law Melissa Murray issued a strong warning: “The EMTALA case, Moyle v. US, hasn’t received as much attention as the mifepristone case, but it is huge. Not only implicates access to emergency medical procedures (like abortion in cases of miscarriage), but the broader question of federal law supremacy.”

READ MORE: ‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

 

 

 

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Gag Order Breach? Trump Targeted Cohen in Taped Interview Hours Before Contempt Hearing

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15 hours ago

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April 24, 2024

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Hours before his attorneys would mount a defense on Tuesday claiming he had not violated his gag order Donald Trump might have done just that in a 12-minute taped interview that morning, which did not air until later that day. It will be up to Judge Juan Merchan to make that decision, if prosecutors add it to their contempt request.

Prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office told Judge Juan Merchan that the ex-president violated the gag order ten times, via posts on his Truth Social platform, and are asking he be held in contempt. While the judge has yet to rule, he did not appear moved by their arguments. At one point, Judge Merchan told Trump’s lead lawyer Todd Blanche he was “losing all credibility” with the court.

And while Judge Merchan directed defense attorneys to provide a detailed timeline surrounding Trump’s Truth Social posts to prove he had not violated the gag order, Trump in an interview with a local television station appeared to have done so.

READ MORE: ‘They Will Have Thugs?’: Lara Trump’s Claim RNC Will ‘Physically Handle the Ballots’ Stuns

The gag order bars Trump from “commenting or causing others to comment on potential witnesses in the case, prospective jurors, court staff, lawyers in the district attorney’s office and the relatives of any counsel or court staffer, as CBS News reported.

“The threat is very real,” Judge Merchan wrote when he expanded the gag order. “Admonitions are not enough, nor is reliance on self-restraint. The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant’s recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well. Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself.”

Tuesday morning, Trump told ABC Philadelphia’s Action News reporter Walter Perez, “Michael Cohen is a convicted liar. He’s got no credibility whatsoever.”

He repeated that Cohen is a “convicted liar,” and insisted he “was a lawyer for many people, not just me.”

READ MORE: ‘Old and Tired and Mad’: Trump’s Demeanor in Court Detailed by Rachel Maddow

Since Cohen is a witness in Trump’s New York criminal case, Judge Merchan might decide Trump’s remarks during that interview violated the gag order, if prosecutors bring the video to his attention.

Enter attorney George Conway, who has been attending Trump’s New York trial.

Conway reposted a clip of the video, tagged Manhattan District Attorney Bragg, writing: “cc: @ManhattanDA, for your proposed order to show cause why the defendant in 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘷. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 should not spend some quiet time in lockup.”

Trump has been criminally indicted in four separate cases and is facing a total of 88 felony charges, including 34 in this New York criminal trial for alleged falsification of business records to hide payments of “hush money” to an adult film actress and one other woman, in an alleged effort to suppress their stories and protect his 2016 presidential campaign, which experts say is election interference.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

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