Schock’s fundraiser: I feel ‘sad, angry, cheated’ - POLITICO

 

By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and John Bresnahan

3/24/15 1:53 PM EDT

Rep. Aaron Schock’s longtime fundraiser sent an email to the Illinois Republican’s donors, saying she feels “sad, angry, cheated” and filled with “total disgust, disbelief and disappointment” at the congressman’s alleged misspending of taxpayer and campaign dollars.

Lisa Wagner is an Illinois-based GOP fundraiser who worked for Schock for the past four years, helping to catapult him to the top tier of the Republican money world.

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Wagner’s email offers a window into the sudden fallout and acute anger in Schock’s world from the scandal that brought down the fourth-term congressman, who announced his resignation last week effective March 31. Schock is now under investigation by the Justice Department. Schock aides have been called to testify before a federal grand jury next month in Springfield, Illinois.

“You personally and generously supported Aaron in the past and were very kind to him,” Wagner wrote in an email, obtained by POLITICO. “He deceived us all.”

Wagner added, “The last time I saw Aaron was February 8, 2015. I have tried to text, email and call, but with zero response. Right now, I feel like someone we thought we knew really well died.”

“I believe he should be held accountable for his choices…. whatever the consequences [may] be…I have no sympathy for the him right now,” she wrote.

A spokesman for Schock had no comment.

Reached on Tuesday, Wagner told POLITICO that she spoke to Schock for the first time Monday since the scandal broke.

“We talked about the email I sent to a handful of individual donors who were close to Aaron,” Wagner wrote in an emailed statement to POLITICO. “During our conversation, I shared how angry and how disappointed I was with him. Our conversation was very raw, authentic and human.”

Wagner said that she is praying for Schock and believes that he will “work hard to make things right as best he can.”

She said that after talking with Schock, “I — for the first time — started to separate the sin from the sinner.”

“Aaron is going thru Hell,” Wagner wrote. “Many, many people genuinely like and care about Aaron as a human being, and their hearts are heavy and sad. I believe Aaron will work hard to make things right as best he can. From starting the process of returning checks to reaching out to people, Aaron will take full responsibility for his actions and choices.”

While Schock had kept a lower profile before announcing his resignation, the Illinois Republican voted this week and attended the weekly House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday morning.

In her earlier email to donors, Wagner wrote that she worked for Schock for four years, “got paid a modest monthly retainer, but received no bonus, no trips, no gifts, no sporting events or rock concerts, not even a Schock t-shirt.”

“Worked my tail off and played by the rules for him,” she wrote. “I guess that is why I was kept out of the loop — until he [needs] something - a fundraiser for [Illinois Gov. Bruce] Rauner, a fundraiser for him, 15M for the [National Republican Congressional Committee].”

Wagner said she has “requested any money donated to him in 2015 be returned.”

“The response I received from the person managing his compliance now is that they legally have to return the 2016 general contributions, but not the primary money,” she wrote. “My request is that all of it should be returned.”

In closing, Wagner wrote that she is “truly sorry for the pain Aaron’s situation is causing you, me, his friends, supporters, staff, donors, the voters, those who believed in him — everyone. This whole situation hurts everyone.”

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