Democrat Cori Bush’s ethics complaint grows due to additional payments to spouse.
Conservative Group Expands Ethics Complaint Against Rep. Cori Bush Over Campaign Payments to Husband
A conservative group is ramping up its ethics complaint against Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), a member of the “Squad,” regarding recent campaign payments made to her husband, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“Cori Bush’s crime spree continues — now with convenient new descriptions in her FEC report,” said Dan Backer, a Republican campaign finance lawyer for the Committee to Defeat the President. “Bush has walked into a legal trap of her making. She’s either falsifying FEC reports that her husband illegally provided security services he’s not licensed to provide, or he did illegally provide them and she violated the law prohibiting paying for illegal things.”
The complaint alleges that Bush violated federal law by directing $60,000 in campaign funds to her husband, Cortney Merritts, for private security in 2022. The super PAC Committee to Defeat the President and the watchdog Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust previously filed ethics complaints against Bush in March. Now, the anti-President Joe Biden super PAC has submitted a supplemental complaint to the Federal Election Commission, detailing an additional $30,000 in payments made to her husband in 2023 for “security services” and “wage expenses.”
In the second quarter of 2023, the Bush campaign’s filing revealed that Merritts received $17,500 between April and June, following the $12,500 he received in the first quarter. The purpose of some of the recent payments being labeled as “wage expenses” is unclear, as the Bush campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Merritts has been on Bush’s campaign payroll since January 2021, and the couple got married in February of that year. While it is not illegal for lawmakers to use campaign funds to pay family members, it is generally frowned upon. The complaint alleges that the payments to Merritts may not have been for actual “security services” and that the campaign altered payment descriptions to avoid self-incrimination.
In addition to Merritts, Bush has also paid Nathaniel Davis III, a friend who claims to be a 109 trillion-year-old spiritual guru, for security services. The Bush campaign has also employed PEACE Security, a St. Louis-based corporation specializing in “armed security” and surveillance system sales and installation.
Last week, Bush joined House Democrats in reintroducing the People’s Response Act, which aims to allocate funds to social workers for mental health emergencies instead of relying on law enforcement. During a press conference for the act, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation board member Shalomyah Bowers referred to Bush as “brilliant.” However, Bowers was accused in a lawsuit last year of unlawfully taking over $10 million from donors of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.
According to Dan Backer, “Democrats have gotten plain old lazy about violating federal election law knowing the FEC keeps covering for them.”
A spokeswoman for the FEC declined to comment on the complaint due to confidentiality requirements and agency policy.
Click here to read more from the Washington Examiner.
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