Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) has continued payments to her husband for security services despite a Department of Justice investigation into the payments.
Recent Federal Election Commission filings indicate Bush’s campaign paid her husband, Cortney Merritts, $15,000 this year and has paid him $135,000 since January 2022. Bush has maintained her innocence during the DOJ’s inquiry into her.
“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 said in a January statement confirming the DOJ inquiry into her campaign spending.
“In accordance with all applicable laws and House rules, I retained my husband as part of my security team to provide security services because he has extensive experience in this area, and is able to provide the necessary services at or below a fair market rate,” she added.
Merritts does not have a private security license, but he did serve as an “air assault soldier in 101st Airborne,” Bush said, along with saying Merritts has worked security for other companies.
Merritts did not have a private security license in St. Louis as of February 2023 and hasn’t had one since 2012, Fox News reported. The St. Louis Police Department requires “all persons performing a security function” to be licensed.
