Ex-Congressman's lawyers: Informant in Schock case broke law

WASHINGTON (AP) — A staffer working for former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock secretly provided the government with a trove of emails, credit card receipts and other documents that violated the now-indicted congressman's constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure, his lawyers argue in new court filings.

[...] in court documents filed late Tuesday, Schock's attorneys say the government went too far when it transformed the staffer into an informant and required him to wear a wire to secretly record conversations — in addition to providing more than 10,000 pages of legislative emails, staff rosters, employee records and confidential documents from Schock's district office the defense considers to be stolen property.

Schock's downfall was as swift as his rise in Congress, having been a young, fresh face of the Republican Party and sought-after fundraiser for fellow GOP candidates.

In 2015, The Associated Press relied on location data from his Instagram pictures when it reported he spent taxpayer and campaign funds on flights aboard private planes owned by some of his top donors.

The indictment charged Schock with wire fraud, falsification of election commission filings, filing false federal income tax returns, making false statements, mail fraud and theft of government funds.