Cori Bush’s campaign pays $17.5K more to her husband, bringing total to $120K

Rep. Cori Bush, who’s now dealing with a Justice Department probe into her campaign spending on personal safety, paid her husband an extra $17,500 from her committee in latest months, new filings present.

The Missouri Democrat’s new filings, submitted to the Federal Election Commission late Wednesday night time, present that her campaign made seven extra funds for $2,500 every to her husband, Cortney Merritts, between October 1 and December 31.

The new funds maintained the regular movement of checks to her husband over the previous two years. After Bush and Merritts married in February 2023, her workplace revealed they’d been collectively earlier than she entered workplace in 2021. 

Merritts initially gathered cash for safety companies beginning in January 2022, however Bush’s committee switched their description to “wage expenses” in April 2023 as they continued to deliver complications to the campaign.

CORI BUSH’S CAMPAIGN CONTINUES TO SHELL OUT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO HER HUSBAND FOR PRIVATE SECURITY

Rep. Cori Bush has now paid her husband $120,000 from her campaign since early 2022. (Getty Images)

Merritts has now collected $120,000 from Bush’s campaign coffers. Politicians will pay relations from their committees so long as they supply “bona fide” companies at honest market worth. He pocketed the cash as Bush’s campaign concurrently spent considerably more with St. Louis-based corporations akin to PEACE Security for personal element. She’s spent over $770,000 on such companies.

Meanwhile, Merritts, whose on-line accounts and posts have indicated he labored at a railroad firm for years earlier than beginning a shifting firm, didn’t have a non-public safety license as of late February 2023. He additionally didn’t seem in a Washington, D.C., database of licensed safety specialists, Fox News Digital beforehand reported. 

The ordeal triggered at the least two complaints from watchdog teams within the following weeks. The first grievance, filed to the FEC in March 2023 by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, continues to be pending. The ethics committee has since cleared Bush in a second grievance from the Committee to Defeat the President.

Fox News Digital reached out to Bush’s campaign quite a few occasions over the previous a number of years concerning the funds – first, concerning the safety funds on the whole as she pushed to defund the police, then concerning the funds to Merritts after they married – however they didn’t reply to a single inquiry.

Due to this, Fox News Digital confronted Merritts in October because the couple left a D.C. fundraiser for California Democrat candidate Derek Marshall. During the alternate, Merritts appeared to backtrack about his function on the campaign after telling the videographer he would not have one.

CORI BUSH’S CAMPAIGN PAID HER HUSBAND FOR SECURITY SERVICES – BUT HE DOESN’T HAVE A PRIVATE SECURITY LICENSE

“I have a question for you,” the videographer mentioned. “What’s your role on the campaign right now?”

“I don’t have a role in the campaign, man,” Merritts responded.

“You don’t have a role at all?” the videographer countered. “They were reporting you had wages on the campaign for security, and then it was a general wage. I was just wondering what you’ve been doing on the campaign?”

“Yeah, I mean you can Google what it is,” Merritts replied. “You can also Google what happened with the FEC report came back 5-0, that it was all completely above board.”

“So you’re not doing any more work with her campaign?” the videographer mentioned.

“Am I doing work with the campaign?” Merrits mentioned. “Obviously, I am. I’m still [inaudible], right?”

“You’re still a part of it?” the videographer requested. 

“Am I still employed with it? Yes, so obviously, I’m going to work with it,” Merritts mentioned. “What’s this whole ‘gotcha’ s—? I’m not a politician, man, so ask me a question, man-to-man, and I’ll answer. So what’s your question?”

“That was it, about the campaign,” the videographer responded.

“I’m still in the campaign; I still do security with the campaign. Have a good night, man. Be safe,” Merritts mentioned earlier than entering into the automotive with Bush.

WATCH: CORI BUSH’S HUSBAND CONFRONTED OVER THE THOUSANDS IN CASH HE HAS RECEIVED FROM HER CAMPAIGN

The Justice Department is probing Bush’s campaign expenditures on personal safety, which additionally included a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} more to St. Louis-based corporations.  (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Communications Workers of America (CWA))

Earlier this week, Bush confirmed the Justice Department is investigating her campaign spending on safety companies and mentioned her workplace is “fully cooperating.”

“Since before I was sworn into office, I have endured relentless threats to my physical safety and life,” Bush mentioned in a Tuesday assertion. “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.”

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“These frivolous complaints have resulted in a number of investigations, some of which are still ongoing,” Bush mentioned. “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.”

Bush’s campaign didn’t instantly reply to Fox News Digital’s request for remark.