Aaron Schock’s career unraveled in large measure because his staff tried to bully a reporter who wasn’t even investigating the congressman.

Now the underlying reason that the Illinois Republican announced his resignation on Tuesday had to do with arrogance over his free-spending habits and the urge to pursue a celebrity lifestyle. But Schock would have kept his House seat if his aides hadn’t gone ballistic over the “Downton Abbey” story.

I met Schock, who has a habit of being photographed shirtless, soon after he took office in 2009 when TMZ did a quick feature on his admirable abs. The freshman embraced the brief burst of celebrity, telling me that if voters are “learning about me on TMZ or some of these other blogs and YouTube videos, then they're recognizing my face and my name so when I'm out on CNN or some of the other networks talking about issues, they're maybe going to stop from clicking the channel and listen to what I have to say.”

I asked whether that sort of thing trivialized him. “I guess there's worse things they could be saying about you,” Schock told me.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/19/behind-aaron-schocks-downfall-one-reporter-and-strangely-decorated-office/

Howard Kurtz By Howard Kurtz Published March 19, 2015 FoxNews.com Facebook0 Twitter0 livefyre Email Print Aaron Schock’s career unraveled in large measure because his staff tried to bully a reporter who wasn’t even investigating the congressman. Now the underlying reason that the Illinois Republican announced his resignation on Tuesday had to do with arrogance over his free-spending habits and the urge to pursue a celebrity lifestyle. But Schock would have kept his House seat if his aides hadn’t gone ballistic over the “Downton Abbey” story. I met Schock, who has a habit of being photographed shirtless, soon after he took office in 2009 when TMZ did a quick feature on his admirable abs. The freshman embraced the brief burst of celebrity, telling me that if voters are “learning about me on TMZ or some of these other blogs and YouTube videos, then they're recognizing my face and my name so when I'm out on CNN or some of the other networks talking about issues, they're maybe going to stop from clicking the channel and listen to what I have to say.” I asked whether that sort of thing trivialized him. “I guess there's worse things they could be saying about you,” Schock told me. Fast forward to last month, when a Style section reporter for the Washington Post, Ben Terris, dropped by the congressman’s office for a feature story and noticed the following: “Bright red walls. A gold-colored wall sconce with black candles. A Federal-style bull’s-eye mirror with an eagle perched on top.” The interior decorator hired by Schock popped into the outer office and offered to give him a tour. The reporter took some pictures. The communications director called and demanded that Terris delete the pictures: “Who told you you could do that?” Um, it’s a public office, paid for by the taxpayers?