Democrat Cori Bush Funnels Another $17,500 in Campaign Cash to Husband, Docs Show

Radical Democrat Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) has funneled another big chunk of campaign cash to her husband, bringing the total to $120,000 so far, new filings have revealed.

Bush paid her husband an additional $17,500 from her committee in recent months.

The payments are for private security for the congresswoman, who leads the “defund the police” movement and campaigns for fewer police officers to protect the public.

The Democrat “Squad” member’s new filings, submitted to the Federal Election Commission late Wednesday night, show that her campaign made seven additional payments for $2,500 each to her husband, Cortney Merritts.

The payments were made between October 1 and December 31.

The new payments maintained the steady flow of checks to her husband over the past two years.

After it emerged that Bush and Merritts secretly married in February 2023, her office admitted they had been together since before she entered office in 2021.

Merritts initially gathered money for security services starting in January 2022.

However, Bush’s committee switched their description to “wage expenses” in April 2023 as they continued to bring headaches to the campaign.

The latest payments have emerged as the Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into Bush earlier this week over the use of campaign funds, as Slay News reported.

Merritts has now collected $120,000 from Bush’s campaign coffers.

Politicians can pay family members from their committees as long as they provide “bona fide” services at fair market value.

He pocketed the money as Bush’s campaign simultaneously spent significantly more with St. Louis-based companies such as PEACE Security for private detail.

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She’s spent over $770,000 on private security services, despite demanding fewer police officers to protect the American people.

Meanwhile, 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.

The ordeal triggered at least two complaints from watchdog groups in the following weeks.

The first complaint, filed to the FEC in March 2023 by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, is still pending.

The ethics committee has since cleared Bush in a second complaint from the Committee to Defeat the President.

In October, Merrits was confronted by a Fox News reporter as the couple left a D.C. fundraiser for California Democrat candidate Derek Marshall.

During the exchange, Merritts appeared to backtrack about his role on the campaign.

He told the videographer that he doesn’t work for Bush’s campaign.

“I have a question for you,” the reporter said.

“What’s your role on the campaign right now?”

“I don’t have a role in the campaign, man,” Merritts responded.

“You don’t have a role at all?” the reporter countered.

“They were reporting you had wages on the campaign for security, and then it was a general wage.

“I was just wondering what you’ve been doing on the campaign?”

“Yeah, I mean you can Google what it is,” Merritts replied.

“You can also Google what happened with the FEC report came back 5-0, that it was all completely above board.”

“So you’re not doing any more work with her campaign?” the reporter asked.

“Am I doing work with the campaign?” Merrits said.

“Obviously, I am. I’m still [inaudible], right?”

“You’re still a part of it?” the report pressed.

“Am I still employed with it? Yes, so obviously, I’m going to work with it,” Merritts said.

“What’s this whole ‘gotcha’ s—? I’m not a politician, man, so ask me a question, man-to-man, and I’ll answer.

“So what’s your question?”

“That was it, about the campaign,” the reporter responded.

“I’m still in the campaign; I still do security with the campaign,” Merritts said before getting into the car with Bush.

“Have a good night, man. Be safe.”

Earlier this week, Bush confirmed the Justice Department is investigating her campaign spending on security services and said her office is “fully cooperating.”

“Since before I was sworn into office, I have endured relentless threats to my physical safety and life,” Bush said in a Tuesday 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.”

“These frivolous complaints have resulted in a number of investigations, some of which are still ongoing,” Bush said.

“The Federal Election Commission and the House Committee on Ethics are currently reviewing the matter, as is the Department of Justice.

“We are fully cooperating in all of these pending investigations.”

READ MORE: Radical Democrats Cori Bush & Rashida Tlaib Vote against Bill to Ban Terrorists from America

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By Frank Bergman

Frank Bergman is a political/economic journalist living on the east coast. Aside from news reporting, Bergman also conducts interviews with researchers and material experts and investigates influential individuals and organizations in the sociopolitical world.

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