As previously reported on The Drill Down, squad member and progressive House Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) has been paying her husband for security and protection despite an investigation into the arrangement by the Biden Department of Justice.
According to Federal Election Commission documents, Bush’s campaign made two $2,500 wage payments to her spouse, Cortney Merritts, each month between January 1 and March 29.
In total, Bush has paid Merritts $135,000 since January 2022. She listed the payments as “wage expenses” starting in April 2023.
Back in January, Bush released the following statement:
“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,” Bush said.
There’s one small problem with Bush’s arrangement.
From Fox News:
Politicians can pay family members from their committees as long as they provide “bona fide” services at fair market value. However, Merrits pocketed the money as Bush’s campaign simultaneously spent significantly more on St. Louis-based companies, such as PEACE Security, for private detail. She has spent over $770,000 on such services.
Merritts, whose online accounts and posts have indicated he worked at a railroad company for years before starting a moving company, did not have a private security license as of late February 2023. He also did not appear in a Washington, D.C., database of licensed security specialists, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Bush has a complaint pending; it was filed by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust.
While the jury is still out on the legality of the arrangement, the hypocrisy is clear as day: Rep. Bush is one of the House’s biggest proponents of the Defund the Police movement — but then she turns around and spends hundreds of thousands on private security.
