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This is perhaps the feel-good political story we need during a political season which feels like a hellscape. People were examining Senator Chuck Schumer’s FEC filings – an account of his campaign-related expenditures – and they found that the senior senator from New York had spent thousands of dollars on cheesecake. So obviously, Sen. Schumer had to do a press conference where he bribed journalists with cheesecake. This is too pure.

A senator with a sweet tooth! Sen. Chuck Schumer has admitted that over the past decade he’s spent more than $8,600 on cheesecake. In a press conference on Sunday, Schumer said that he was “guilty as charged” after the New York Post reported his spending on the snack, explaining that slices of cheesecake from Junior’s restaurant in New York City are his go-to gift option.

“I give them as gifts. I use them for bets, you know when someone wants to bet something, you know for a Brooklyn thing versus a Wisconsin thing,” Schumer told the group, explaining that he once bet the Brooklyn cheesecake against Wisconsin cheese, according to footage of the press conference obtained by CNN. “So I say to the New York Post and others, guilty as charged. I love Junior’s cheesecake so much. It’s the best cheesecake in the world. It is made in Brooklyn, I’ve been going to Junior’s since I was a little boy, and it’s my guilty pleasure,” he added, holding up a plate full of cheesecake slices.

Schumer then asked reporters, “Who would like a Junior’s cheesecake?” before walking around to pass out the decadent dessert to those in attendance. “If everyone shares, there’ll be plenty.”

Juniors has been a New York staple since 1950, and offers some nostalgia for Schumer, who grew up going to the restaurant that now boasts multiple locations in the Big Apple. The massive sum spent on cheesecake was reported in Federal Election Commission filings between the years of 2009 and 2016, CNN reported, by the Friends of Schumer PAC. The filings reveal amounts paid to Junior’s ranging from $46 to as much as $516 for “supporter acknowledgments,” the outlet said, adding that the senator’s office said the money used to purchase the treats did not come from taxpayers.

While Schumer’s press secretary told CNN that the politician “likes any flavor,” they added that the plain flavor “allows one to really savor that Junior’s recipe.”

[From People]

I’ve never been a cheesecake person, but I know so many people are cheesecake fanatics, and I love when people give desserts as gifts, or use food to make some kind of bet. I bet you a lemon pound cake that Schumer has spent way more than $8600 on cheesecake between 2009 and 2016. That’s just the number for what his office/campaign spent on cheesecake GIFTS to donors and friends. I’d be interested in knowing how much Schumer has spent on his personal cheesecake obsession.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.