WASHINGTON – Lawyers for former Rep. Aaron Schock R-Ill. said Friday they are voluntarily providing records sought by federal prosecutors in order to avoid a “prolonged legal battle.”
At issue in this latest skirmish in a long running dispute over document production was the government’s bid to do an end-run around a request by Schock’s legal team for a judge to review some 3,000 documents to determine if they were responsive to subpoenas.
In a federal court filing on Nov. 25, Schock’s lawyers said an agreement was made with the Springfield, Ill. based prosecutors over emails, documents and texts from Schock, who they have twice subpoenaed.
“Months ago, Mr. Schock produced over 10,000 personal documents, and affirmatively provided another 3,000 documents to the Judge for her determination if they were responsive to the government’s vague subpoena, “ said a statement from Schock’s law firm, McGuire Woods.
“Instead of awaiting the results of that review, the government circumvented this process by issuing a second subpoena to Mr. Schock for the very documents the Court has been reviewing. Rather than engage in a prolonged legal battle over the propriety of this new subpoena – Mr. Schock and his counsel agreed to turn over these additional documents to the government. He has met his obligations and more while maintaining constitutional and legal privileges shared by all citizens.”
Schock resigned from Congress on March 31 after questions surfaced over his spending of government and political funds. A grand jury sitting in Springfield has been hearing testimony about Schock since last Spring. Court documents state the Grand Jury term is due to expire in December.
