Democratic Rep. Cori Bush says she and her staff are “fully cooperating” with a Justice Department probe looking into whether the congresswoman abused campaign funds for personal security services.
Bush confirmed on Tuesday that she’s under investigation by the Department of Justice, the Federal Election Commission, and the House Ethics Committee, after which she was met with criticism from GOP Rep. Troy Nehls, who noted Bush wouldn’t need protection from threats if she weren’t “so loud all the time.”
The investigations stem from payments to her former security guard and now-husband Cortney Merritts, whom she married last year, which subjected her to intense scrutiny from GOP operatives and conservative watchdog agencies.
However, the Missouri Democrat defended employing her husband and said she retained his services because of his “extensive experience” in security.
“In particular, the nature of these allegations have been around my husband’s role on the campaign,” Bush said in a statement. “In accordance with all applicable rules, I retained my husband as part of my security team to provide security services because he has had extensive experience in this area, and is able to provide the necessary services at or below a fair market rate.”
Punchbowl News first reported the DOJ investigation this week. The Federal Election Commission was notified last March by a conservative political action committee alleging that Bush violated two federal campaign finance laws by misusing campaign expenditures to pay her husband outside of the legal scope. A watchdog agency also filed a similar complaint.
The U.S. House Ethics Committee stated they are “reviewing the matter.”
“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’s statement reads. “I have not used any federal tax dollars for personal security services. Any reporting that I have used federal funds for personal security is simply false.”
“She doesn’t even support the police,” Nehls told The Hill on Tuesday. “But the idea to pay her thug, money to try to help protect her this and that, for what?” the Texas congressman said. “Maybe if she wouldn’t be so loud all the time, maybe she wouldn’t be getting threats.”
Bush responded to Nehls’ comment on Tuesday night and demanded an apology.
“@RepTroyNehls just called my husband, a Black man and army veteran, a thug,” Bush wrote on the social media platform X. “And I’m the loud Black woman who needs to be silent in order to be safe from violence, or else? This is the kind of rhetoric that endangers Black lives. He must apologize.”
Politico reports Bush spent nearly $130,000 on private security during the first three quarters last year. The last quarter report hasn’t been released yet. Her campaign spending as a whole shows that she spent $756,748.42 on security since she first ran for Congress in 2018, according to NBC News.
FEC records show that in 2022, Merritts was paid $62,359 by the “Cori Bush For Congress” campaign for working as a “security specialist.” Then, for the first three quarters of 2023, Merritts was paid $42,500 for “wage expense” and “security services,” according to Politico.
The FEC prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal use, but that money can be used to pay for private security and even to pay relatives as long as they provide a “bonafide service” at a “fair market value.” Anti-nepotism rules do prohibit House lawmakers from hiring spouses and family members onto their official staff once they’re elected.
Bush also shared her belief that the right-wing groups drawing attention to her campaign expenditures are doing so to “attack” her.
“I am under no illusion that these right-wing organizations will stop politicizing and pursuing efforts to attack me and the work that the people of St. Louis sent me to Congress to do: to lead boldly, to legislate change my constituents can feel, and to save lives,” Bush stated.
Bush has defended hiring private security in the past as a member of “The Squad,” which includes House lawmakers such as Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman, Ayanna Pressley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She faced what she described as “relentless threats” to her “physical safety and life” after she was elected to Congress.
Before serving in Congress, Bush’s rise to national notoriety began when she was a Black Lives Matter organizer. She previously ran for Congress in 2016 and 2018 but didn’t win until 2020, ousting former longtime Missouri representative Lacy Clay.
She made headlines late last year for her scathing criticisms of the Israeli government’s role in the Israel-Hamas war, reflecting an emerging gulf between Democrats on how to address the conflict as President Biden skirts around Americans’ demands to call for a cease-fire.
