Representative Cori Bush continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons.
In addition to the Department of Justice probing her campaign regarding money that it spent on private security, new election filings show the Democratic representative from Missouri paid another $17,500 to her husband, Courtney Merritts.
According to the latest Federal Election Commission filings that were submitted this week, Bush’s campaign made seven payments of $2,500 each to Merritts from October 1 through December 31.
This shows that Bush isn’t backing down from sending her husband money, a practice which started a full year before they married in February of 2023. In fact, financial records show that she’s been sending payments to Merritts since she first was elected to Congress back in 2021.
In January of 2022 — when Bush was sworn into her seat in the House — she started to pay Merritts for security services. Her campaign decided to change the description of those services to “wage expenses” starting last April, after she continued to receive criticism for the ongoing payments.
In total, Bush’s campaign has paid Merritts about $120,000 for various services.
It’s not illegal for politicians to pay members of their family from their campaign committees, provided that they provide them with “bona fide” services at prices that are in line with fair market value.
In addition to the $120,000 that Bush’s campaign paid to Merritts, it also paid other companies based in St. Louis for private security details. Finance reports show her campaign has spent more than $770,000 on security since she entered office.
This, of course, comes at a time when Bush — as well as many of her ultra-progressive colleagues in the so-called “Squad — have called to defund the police.
Fox News Digital has previously reported that Merritts didn’t obtain a license to operate as a private security detail as of February of 2023. He also didn’t appear in a database of specialists who are licensed in the security sector.
All of this resulted in two separate watchdog groups filing complaints against Bush. The first was filed in March 2023 by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust. That complaint is still in pending status.
A second complaint, filed by the Committee to Defeat the President, didn’t result in any action against Bush, since the House Ethics Committee cleared her of any wrongdoing.
It’s been a tough week for Bush, who confirmed that the DOJ is conducting an investigation into her campaign about how it spends money on private security. She said that she’s “fully cooperating” with that investigation.
In a statement she released earlier this week, Bush said:
“Since before I was sworn into office, I have endured relentless threats to my physical safety and life. As a rank-and-file member of Congress, I am not entitled to personal protection by the House, and instead have used campaign funds as permissible to retain security services.”
