Ex-Rep. Schock seeks to move case to hometown

Former Rep. Aaron Schock asked a federal judge to move his case from Illinois’s capital to his hometown of Peoria, noting that the case has “virtually no connection” to Springfield, according to Politico. 

{mosads}The Illinois Republican, who resigned from Congress last year, was indicted earlier this month on 24 counts for misusing campaign funds after investigations into his spending on travel and office decor.

Schock’s lawyers argued in a Monday filing that the allegations didn’t happen in Springfield and there are no major witness who live in the state’s capital. 

“Yet the [U.S. attorney] chose to file this case not in Peoria — where the [U.S. attorney] maintains an office mere blocks from the federal courthouse — but in Springfield,” his lawyer said in the filing. “The only basis for doing so appears to be the prosecutor’s convenience.” 

In a statement from mid-November, Schock said he was ready to fight the indictment. 

“Like many Americans, I wanted to have faith in the integrity of our Justice Department,” he said in a statement at the time. “But after this experience, I am forced to join millions of other Americans who have sadly concluded that our federal justice system is broken and too often driven by politics instead of facts.”

Schock’s arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 12.