Rep. Aaron Schock In Trouble For Bringing Male Companion On Trip To India
[caption id="attachment_187531" align="alignnone" width="520"]
Schock and Link (at left) at a event[/caption]
Republican Rep. Aaron Schock—y'know, the guy with the office that looks like a set piece from Downton Abbey—is facing accusations he's been using official funds on lavish trips and personal items.
"He’s dropped tens of thousands of dollars at pricey hotels and restaurants in Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Vail and Aspen," reports Wonkette. "In one trip to Las Vegas, he spent $5,000 at the Wynn. He also cut checks to the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, Vail and Washington."
[caption id="attachment_187532" align="alignnone" width="551"]
Totally butch Schock in Patagonia[/caption]
That's not an uncommon charge against a congressman, but it brought to light that the totally-not-gay Schock has been spending a lot of time with his "personal photographer" Jonathon Link.
Yes, that's Jonathon with an O.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="250"] Jonathon Link[/caption]
He even brought Link, a former Dallas wedding photographer, on a trip to India in 2013 that was paid for by the Global Poverty Project.
Under House rules, representatives can "accept private money for a companion's travel expenses only if the companion is a staffer, spouse or child. "
Link wasn't added to Schock's payroll until September 2014.
Jonathon Link, Schock’s full time personal photographer, started September 1 and was paid $4,166 for that month, which translates to an annual salary of about $50,000.
In the final three months of the year, he was paid $17,500, which translates to an annual salary of about $70,000.
In addition to his congressional salary, Link’s photography studio was paid more than $29,000 during the final three months of the year for “Web Dev Hst, Email and Rltd Serv.”
Now we're not going to declare Link and Schock are secret boyfriends. We'll happily imply it, though.
It's a shame, too—if everything was out in the open, they'd make the cutest couple in Congress.
Of course then it might be hard for Schock to explain voting against marriage equality, hate-crime laws and lifting the ban on gays in the military.
Below, check out Instagrams of Schock on some of his global adventures.
Schock and pals in Argentina
with Ariana Grande. Did he get Frankie's number?
Java @starbucks w/ @arianagrande #coffeeforakiss Good luck tonight! #AmericanMusicAwards A photo posted by Aaron Schock (@aaronschock) on
In the Aegean
