PEORIA — Attorneys for former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock took issue Wednesday with prosecutors' assertion that nothing improper happened with two grand juries who investigated the Peoria Republican.

Less than 24 hours after U.S. Attorney Patrick Hansen told a federal judge that his staff didn't misspeak before the grand juries, Schock's lawyers fired back with an 18-page missive that called out Hansen, the entire case and even the Department of Justice.

"This latest filing by the government not only further compounds its prior misrepresentations and misconduct, it distracts from the fundamental purpose of Mr. Schock’s underlying motion: this indictment must be dismissed because the prosecution violated Mr. Schock’s Fifth Amendment rights by repeatedly commenting to the grand jury about Mr. Schock’s decision not to testify," his attorneys wrote.

A claim that began with a handwritten note from a third-hand party about something overheard at a grand jury proceeding could wind up having a pivotal role in the federal corruption case.

At issue is the allegation that prosecutors improperly discussed Schock, 36, not appearing before the grand jury, despite being invited. That's a no-no, as a person has an absolute right not to testify. If they don't, a jury isn't to hold that against them.

For months, Schock's attorneys have held that prosecutors improperly suggested Schock could have testified but chose not to. The government repeatedly denied that until recently when they said, yes, that it was brought up 11 times. U.S. District Judge Colin Bruce ordered the government to review thousands of pages of testimony to confirm there were no other such misstatements.

In a filing Tuesday by Hansen, the government said the whole thing was a big misunderstanding and that they found nothing improper was done. Hansen asked the judge to reconsider a statement regarding improper actions by the prosecutors.

Contact Andy Kravetz: (309) 686-3283, akravetz@pjstar.com, @andykravetz.