ILLINOIS: Donor To Schock Campaign Will Sue To Get His Money Back

Via the Daily Beast:

A former donor to disgraced ex-Rep. Aaron Schock will file a class action lawsuit against him Wednesday morning, in hopes of preventing the Illinois Republican from using campaign funds for his legal defense. Howard Foster, a Chicago lawyer and former donor to the congressman, will be the lead—and so far, only—plaintiff in the case against Schock, two sources familiar with the matter tell The Daily Beast. He has retained Steve Berman, a Seattle lawyer famous for launching high profile class action lawsuits against the likes of Exxon Mobil and Enron, to file the case Wednesday in Chicago Federal Court. Schock resigned last month after it was revealed that he had claimed tens of thousands of dollars in false mileage reimbursements for use of his personal vehicle, among other spending irregularities. “We thought he was honest and had a bright future. We would not have supported him had we known he regularly violated House rules,” Foster wrote in a blog post last month. (Neither Foster nor Berman would speak on the record about the pending case.) Previewing the argument he will likely be making in the legal brief, Foster then wrote, “In light of the situation, he should not convert his campaign funds to any other purpose, such as his legal defense. For that he should have to pay out of his own pocket. Donors should get their money back on some sort of percentage basis, such as in a bankruptcy proceeding.”

Two days ago a downstate Illinois county sent Schock a $76K bill to cover the cost of the special election to replace him. Schock reportedly has over $3M in leftover campaign funds. (Tipped by JMG reader TJ)