Bush’s campaign sent her husband Cortney Merritts a “wage expense” payment worth $2,500 on six different occasions from April to June 2023, according to FEC filings. Bush’s campaign also sent Merritts $2,500 for “security services” on April 3, 2023, the filings disclose. The campaign paid him five times for “security services” from January to March of 2023, Bush’s April FEC filings show. …
Bush and Merritts married in February 2023, local outlet KSDK first reported. The couple obtained a marriage license in St. Louis on Feb. 11 and married a few days later. Bush’s campaign filings from the 2022 midterm election cycle show the campaign paid Merritts more than $60,000 for “security services,” despite him lacking a security license in St. Louis, where Bush’s Congressional district is located, Fox News reported.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civil Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with the FEC in March and requested the agency investigate Bush for allegedly misusing her campaign funds to pay her husband.
[It is not unusual for campaigns to hire family members, including spouses, but they have to do work comparable to their compensation. Otherwise, campaigns can become ways to launder money back to candidates for their own personal use, which the FEC nominally polices to prevent that kind of corruption. Paying Merritts for security work without a proper license might create other legal liabilities for the couple too. — Ed]
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