The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Carolyn Fiddler, and Matt Booker, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●Where Are They Now?: Not going to jail, it would seem. On Wednesday, federal prosecutors unexpectedly agreed to drop all criminal charges against former GOP Rep. Aaron Schock, contingent on the former Illinois congressman paying back taxes to the IRS and reimbursing his congressional campaign committee for $68,000. The committee itself also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for failing to properly report its expenses.
Campaign ActionSchock, who did not plead guilty to anything himself, entered into what's known as a "deferred prosecution" agreement." If Schock keeps his end of the agreement and avoids any further legal trouble over the next six months, prosecutors will abandon their case against him.
This generous arrangement, which the Journal Star says"isn't typical for federal court," is the latest twist in Schock's strange career. Schock was elected to a safely red House seat in downstate Illinois in 2008 at the age of 27, a win that made him the youngest member of Congress and a Republican rising star. He continued to attract plenty of attention over the next few years, especially when his six-pack abs graced a 2011 cover of Men's Health magazine under the caption "America's Fittest Congressman!"
Schock also loved to post photos of himself on Instagram—posing with singer Ariana Grande, jumping in the air while on a glacier, surfing (shirtless, naturally), and chugging a bottle of Mountain Dew (not shirtless). When not busy on social media, he contemplated running for higher office, and even flirted with running for governor in early 2013 for a few months.
But in February of 2015, Schock's glam life came to an abrupt halt. The Washington Post's Ben Terris arrived at Schock's Capitol Hill office to write about how the congressman had apparently decorated his workplace to look like a sumptuous salon from the TV show "Downton Abbey," which seemed like the type of innocent story the publicity-loving Republican would relish.