Missouri Democratic Representative Cori Bush is facing a second complaint from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) over her campaign security payments to her husband.
The latest complaint comes from the Committee to Defeat the President, an anti-Biden super PAC, alleging that Bush “breached” federal campaign finance laws by paying her new husband, Cortney Merritts, $60,000 last year for security. Merritts is not licensed to perform security duties in the congressman’s precinct.
“If federal officials are willing to scrutinize ‘AOC,’ they shouldn’t be giving free passes to other corrupt Squad members,” Ted Harvey, the commission’s chairman, told Fox News Digital.
“In addition to breaking the law to fund her current husband, Cori Bush has repeatedly misled voters by claiming to be a voice for the voiceless despite her primary focus on enriching herself and her family.
MISSOURI REP. CORI BUSH, ‘SQUAD’ DEMOCRAT, MARRIED CAMPAIGN SECURITY GUARD: REPORTS
Representative Cori Bush’s campaign paid her new husband, Cortney Merritts, $60,000 as she paid six figures to a private security company. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“Bush’s utter disregard for the law — not to mention her blatant left-wing hypocrisy — cannot stand, and the commission is going further than any other organization to take action against her.”
The “Squad” member’s campaign paid Merritts, whom she married in February, $60,000, while also paying $225,281 to the St. Louis-based PEACE Security personal protection company through 2022. Bush and Merritts are together since before she entered Congress in 2021. , according to a press release from her office.
Merritts mustered the security checks despite not having a private security license in the city of St. Louis or St. Louis County, which includes all of Bush’s congressional district. A permit is required to operate the services in the area, Fox News Digital previously reported.
CORI BUSH’S CAMPAIGN OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS TO PRIVATE SECURITY AFTER CALLING TO CALL THE FUNDAMENTAL POLICE
This is the second FEC complaint against the Bush campaign over the payments. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
This is Bush’s second complaint against her payments to Merritts. In early March, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with Acting FEC General Counsel Lisa Stevenson asking the committee to investigate whether “Rep. Cori Bush and her campaign committee may have campaign funds for personal have used”. .”
“Any time a member of Congress puts someone with a close personal relationship on the campaign payroll, more scrutiny is needed to make sure the legal standard has been met, in this case that the payments were for “bona fide services at a reasonable price. Fair market value,” Kendra Arnold, executive director of FACT, told Fox News Digital.
The Bush campaign paid more than $500,000 for private security when it called to defund the police. (CBSN)
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“Both the fact that Bush’s husband is allegedly not licensed to provide security services for which he was paid, and that she was simultaneously paying large sums to another company for the same services, raises red flags that warrant an investigation by the FEC. “
The Bush campaign did not respond to a request from Fox News Digital for press comment.
Joe Schoffstall is a political producer/reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @joeschoffstall
