Disgraced former Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) mounted a political comeback of sorts, Politico reported in a June 8 article, claiming that Venezuela’s vice president had promised him a literal gold mine if he got the U.S. to improve diplomatic relations between the countries. Schock recently visited a Venezuelan town renowned for its gold prospecting.
The publication noted that after resigning from Congress in 2015 under a wave of campaign finance scandals, Schock styled himself as a hotel developer and spoke alongside gay Trump administration official Richard Grenell at a 2021 Pride event organized by the Log Cabin Republicans’ (LCR) media outlet Outspoken. Schock then began developing apartment complexes in Georgia and Florida and spent the 2024 election campaigning for Trump at LCR campaign events across eight battleground states.
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Near the beginning of 2025, Harry Sargeant III, a Florida-based Republican donor and longtime investor in Venezuela, reportedly offered Schock “a one-time lump sum payment of $100,000,” according to Sargeant’s attorney Christopher Kise.
Schock reportedly headed to the Venezuelan capitol of Caracas in January 2025. There, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez allegedly offered Schock a gold mine in exchange for work to help soften the U.S. government’s policies against Venezuela.
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Politico noted that soon after, Schock began working with Forward Global, a French firm that pays social media influencers to share political content, “to coordinate Venezuela-related messaging with former officeholders, MAGA activists and online-famous influencers” with the goal of influencing State Secretary Marco Rubio.
Schock reportedly allied with anti-LGBTQ+ White House advisor Lara Loomer to help tarnish Rubio and other hawkish administration officials who could influence foreign relations with the South American country. During 2025, Schock reportedly racked up high-dollar expenses for fancy meals, hotels, and transportation (and expressed displeasure that his Wikipedia page prominently mentions his congressional financial scandals).
Schock’s now-former business associate Benjamin Papermaster reportedly told Schock that the promise of a gold mine was “the dumbest f**king idea,” adding that local cartels and gangsters control the mine and that Schock himself wasn’t going to pull the gold out of the mine.
Nevertheless, Schock instructed Papermaster to begin making preparations to have someone refine the gold. Papermaster stopped working for Schock after Schock repeatedly failed to pay him or respond to meetings and phone calls.
Last month, Schock visited Carabobo, a Venezuelan town renowned for striking gold in the past. Neither Schock nor the Venezuelan vice president responded to Politico‘s request for comment.
Aaron Schock’s closeted and corrupt fall from grace
The former congressman’s closeted life has made him the subject of rumors and speculation ever since he took office in 2009. Rumors about his sexuality began when he appeared in Men’s Health magazine with his pecs on full display, and then later on when he showed up to a 2010 White House picnic in white jeans, a pink gingham shirt, and a teal belt. He burned the belt after the photo of his colorful picnic outfit went viral.
He told a Chicago newspaper in 2004 and Details magazine in 2009 that he wasn’t gay. He kept up the ruse at the 2012 Republican National Convention when he told gay journalist Michelangelo Signorile that he wasn’t gay, calling Signorile’s inquiry “inappropriate and ridiculous” and not “worthy of further response.”
Signorile partially asked Schock about his sexuality because of the then-U.S. Rep’s anti-LGBTQ+ voting record. Schock supported both the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and opposed the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In 2014, The New York Times more or less repeated rumors of his gayness after a post by Facebook user Itay Hod effectively outed Schock.
In 2015, Schock came under investigation for allegedly misusing taxpayer money and campaign donations. He allegedly spent $40,000 of taxpayer money to expensively decorate his congressional office to look like Downton Abbey and took a male “companion” on an unreported all-expenses-paid trip to India. He also spent lavishly on private jets, shopping trips, Katy Perry concert tickets, and fancy hotels.
The investigation proved too much for Schock, who resigned from office and subsequently left Instagram for 83 weeks. The investigation into his spending then ended in March 2019 when prosecutors dropped all charges against Schock in exchange for his pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of failing to properly report expenses. Shock also agreed to pay back $42,000 to the IRS and $68,000 to his congressional campaign fund.
Schock later came out after a series of snapshots in 2019 showed him making out with another man and shoving his hand down his pants at Coachella (there was even video) and trying to pick up a guy poolside. He finally came out as gay in 2020, blaming a strict Christian upbringing for his being closeted.
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