Aaron Schock personally reimburses $35K for ‘Downton Abbey’ office renovations

Rep. Aaron Schock has personally reimbursed $35,000 to pay for the cost of his lavish “Downton Abbey”-style Capitol Hill office renovations.

The Illinois Republican came under fire for the re-decoration earlier this month, after The Washington Post reported on the office makeover, indicating that Mr. Schock accepted his decorator’s services as a free gift and was only being charged for the objects.

The report prompted watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to file a complaint with the House Ethics committee alleging that Mr. Schock had unethically accepted a free gift.

But Mr. Schock’s office had already paid the decorator, Annie Brahler, $35,000 through the end of December, according to documents reviewed by USA Today.

After The Post originally reported on the office decoration, Ms. Brahler reimbursed the U.S. Treasury $35,000 and Mr. Schock then paid her that money out of his personal funds, USA Today reported.

“As he said he would, Congressman Schock has fulfilled his commitment to pay for all the renovation costs of the 18th Congressional District office in Washington,” a statement released by Mr. Schock’s office on Friday said. “Even though office expenses are often covered by the Member Representational Allowance, the Congressman believed it appropriate to pay these costs himself as part of the office review process.”

Mr. Schock has had a history of making expensive decorating purchases using money from his taxpayer-funded account, including thousands of dollars for leather furniture, hardwood floors and marble counter-tops.

This week CREW filed its fourth ethics complaint against Mr. Schock for allegedly flying on donors’ private airplanes. The watchdog group also filed complaints with the ethics committee alleging that Mr. Schock used money from his taxpayer account to rent private, non-charter flights for travel, and for reportedly selling his home in Peoria above market value.