Demands that Missouri Rep. Cori Bush (D) be held accountable mounted as a second Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint was filed against her campaign over payments made to her now-husband Cortney Merritts.
The radical socialist congresswoman, who was elected in 2020 following the Black Lives Matter protests of that year, made defunding the police a focus of her campaign but has demonstrated no qualms with bankrolling her own private security. In addition to paying $225,281 to the St. Louis-based Private Executive Auxiliary Civil Enforcement (PEACE) Security according to FEC filings, Bush’s campaign also reported paying Merritts for “security services” throughout 2022.
Ted Harvey, chair of the super PAC Committee to Defeat the President, filed the latest complaint against Bush and told Fox News Digital, “If federal officials are willing to take a hard look at ‘AOC,’ they shouldn’t be giving a free pass to other corrupt Squad members.”
“In addition to breaking the law to bankroll her now-husband, Cori Bush has repeatedly misled constituents, claiming to be voice for the voiceless despite primarily focusing on enriching herself and her family,” he said and added, “Bush’s utter disregard of the law — not to mention her blatant left-wing hypocrisy — cannot be allowed to stand, and the committee is going further than any other organization to take action against her.”
As previously reported, Bush married Merritts in a secret ceremony in February after the two had been together since August 2020 and joined fellow congresswoman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in being hit with an ethics complaint, herself accused of accepting “impermissible gifts.”
According to the latest complaint against the Missouri lawmaker, “Bush cannot pay her lover or husband $60,000 annually out of her campaign account to hang out in her Washington D.C. office, or with her at their shared home, under the guise of providing ‘security.'”
Of particular note was the fact that Merritts was not licensed in St. Louis or Washington, D.C. to provide security services, something both cities require.
“Bush’s systematic payments to her former lover and current husband Merritts constitute blatant embezzlement of campaign funds for private purposes,” it stated and sought the commencement of “enforcement proceedings.”
The previous complaint was filed by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) whose executive director Kendra Arnold told Fox News Digital, “Any time a member of Congress puts someone with a close personal relationship on the campaign payroll, increased scrutiny is necessary to ensure the legal standard has been met, which, in this case, are that the payments were for ‘bona fide services at a fair market value.'”
“Both the fact that reportedly Bush’s husband isn’t licensed to provide security services for which he was paid, and that she was simultaneously paying large amounts to another company for the same services raise red flags that warrant an investigation by the FEC,” Arnold justified.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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