Aaron Schock's Father: My Son is Different But Not Gay

After Rep. Aaron Schock announced Tuesday that he will resign his seat, following weeks of scrutiny about business deals and lavish spending (like decorating his office in the style of the hit PBS show "Downton Abbey" and taking interns to a Katy Perry concert) the Republican's father has come out defending his son, saying he is not gay but only "a little different."

"Aaron wears stylish clothing and yet he's not gay - and he's not married and he's not running around with women," the congressman's father, Dr. Richard Schock told Chicago ABC-affiliate news station WLS. "Everyone's throwing up their arms because they can't figure out Aaron. So he must be crooked."

For weeks, Aaron Schock, 33, has come under fire for using campaign and taxpayer money for private jets and other questionable purchases. The politician announced his resignation a day after the Office of Congressional Ethics started an apparent investigation on him.

"Two years from now he'll be successful, if he's not in jail," Schock's father said of his son. Dr. Schock also called the situation "paperwork problems."

"If they're going to convict him on paperwork, then they're going to convict him. That's their privilege," he added. "They're out to get him and they're making issues out of things that really shouldn't be issues."

He also told the news station he spoke to his son, following his announcement and said Aaron Schock was "broken" but a "fighter."

"It's about me and a lot of his friends, and a lot of his supporters, and they're all being attacked right now," Dr. Schock said. "He doesn't want to go on. He doesn't want to bring them into court and have to be subpoenaed and everything."

The congressman will resign on March 31.

Though he's denied them, gay rumors have plagued Aaron Schock for some time. Business Insider asked former congressman Barney Frank, who is gay, about Schock's sudden resignation shortly after the Republican made his announcement.

"He was outed or what?" Frank told the publication.

He later added: "I will say this, I don't know if he's gay or not. But if he is, he's forfeited any right to privacy because he votes anti-gay. My view is that people who are gay who vote to support the right of other people to do it have a right to privacy, but the right to privacy does not include hypocrisy."

Aaron Schock has an anti-gay voting record since entering Congress in 2009. According to the Advocate, he received a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign in his first term, where he voted against bills including sexual orientation in federal hate-crimes bills and opposed efforts to the now defunct "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

During the 2012 Republican National Convention, Michelangelo Signorile of SiriusXM's OutQ asked the lawmaker if he was gay.

"Those questions are completely ridiculous and inappropriate. I've said that [I'm not gay] before and I don't think it's worthy of further response. I think you can look it up," he said.