Congressman Aaron Schock (R, IL) is under fire for remodeling his office in a garish Downton Abbey-styled decor. But his taste in decor isn’t the only thing gaining criticism. Ethics watchdogs have charged that he improperly accepted free services from a decorator in the deal.
Recently, in response to the all the criticism, Schock said, “As Taylor Swift said, ‘Haters are gonna hate.'”
The story about the Congressman’s redecorating was first reported by the Washington Post’s Ben Terris, who described the the decor as “Bright red walls. A gold-colored wall sconce with black candles. A Federal-style bull’s-eye mirror with an eagle perched on top.”
In that same report, though, Terris also revealed that Schock’s office tried to dissuade him from publishing the story.
As he toured the newly refurbished office in the Rayburn Building, Terris said that Schock’s staffers tried to make him delete his photos.
But that wasn’t the end of the bad publicity from the story. It was next reported that the decorator, Illinoisan Annie Brahler, didn’t intend to charge for her work as Schock’s designer and decorator. This, an ethics watchdog group said, was a violation of House rules.
In short order, Schock told ABC’s Jeff Zeleny that he fully intended to pay for the work and was only waiting for an invoice.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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