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Rep. Cori Bush is putting blame on “right-wing” watchdogs after it was revealed Tuesday that the Justice Department has opened an investigation into her alleged misuse of presidency funds supposed to pay for her safety.
The probe pertains to allegations of federal safety cash being spent improperly.
Bush notably has spent greater than $500,000 on her personal non-public safety whereas publicly advocating for the defund the police motion.
Bush, a Democrat from St. Louis, Missouri, confirmed DOJ’s overview of her marketing campaign spending on safety providers and mentioned her workplace is “fully cooperating” with the investigation.
“Since before I was sworn into office, I have endured relentless threats to my physical safety and life. 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 mentioned within the Tuesday assertion.
HOUSE NOTIFIED SERGEANT AT ARMS FACES DOJ SUBPOENA FOR DOCUMENTS AS SPECULATION SWIRLS
Rep. Cori Bush (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“I have not used any federal tax dollars for personal security services,” she mentioned.
Bush’s husband and former safety guard, Cortney Merritts, whom she married in February 2023, has pocketed extra $100,000 in funds since Bush added him to her marketing campaign’s payroll in January 2022 for what they marked as “security” funds earlier than switching their description to “wage expenses” in April, Fox News Digital beforehand reported.
Bush mentioned that in current months, “right-wing organizations have lodged baseless complaints against me, peddling notions that I have misused campaign funds to pay for personal security services.”
Those allegations she says are “simply not true” and she or he has “complied with all applicable laws and House rules – and will continue to prioritize the rules that govern us as federal elected officials.”
WATCH: CORI BUSH’S HUSBAND CONFRONTED OVER THE THOUSANDS IN CASH HE HAS RECEIVED FROM HER CAMPAIGN
Rep. Cori Bush has spent greater than $500,000 on her personal non-public safety whereas publicly advocating for the defund the police motion. (Getty Images)
“These frivolous complaints have resulted in a number of investigations, some of which are still ongoing. 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.”
In March 2023, Bush was hit with two FEC complaints over safety funds she made to her new husband.
One grievance comes from the Committee to Defeat the President, an anti-Biden tremendous PAC, which alleges Bush has “flouted” federal marketing campaign finance legal guidelines by paying Merritts $60,000 for safety in 2022. Merritts doesn’t have a license to carry out safety features within the congresswoman’s district.
Bush’s marketing campaign additionally paid $225,281 to the St. Louis-based PEACE Security agency for private safety all through 2022. Bush and Merritts have been collectively since earlier than she entered Congress in 2021, a press launch from her workplace mentioned.
The watchdog group, Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), additionally filed a grievance asking the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to analyze whether or not Bush “used campaign funds for personal use,” citing the $60,000 fee in 2022 for safety providers offered to Merritts.
Rep. Bush mentioned she “looks forward to this same outcome from all pending investigations.” (Jon Michael Raasch/Fox News Digital)
On Monday, a House clerk introduced that House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland relayed that his workplace acquired a grand jury subpoena for paperwork issued by the Justice Department and added that the sergeant of arms workplace would adjust to that subpoena.
Bush mentioned Tuesday that in September of final 12 months, after conducting a months-long investigation, the Office of Congressional Ethics “found no wrongdoing and voted unanimously to dismiss the case.”
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“I look forward to this same outcome from all pending investigations,” she mentioned.
“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,” she added.
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