Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) is under investigation by the Department of Justice for allegedly misusing government funds meant for private security. It is not her first time being accused of misusing government funds.

Congressional offices are given a Members’ Representational Allowance (MRA) which is a budget for such expenses as staff salaries, home offices in their districts, office supplies, and travel. The DOJ is investigating her spending on personal security. Her troubles last year revolved around hiring her then-boyfriend as part of her security team. He was not licensed in Missouri or Washington, D.C. and had no security experience, but she put him on her campaign payroll. Then they got married and he remained on the payroll.

Cori Bush has spent $756,000 on private security since she was elected in 2020. A watchdog group asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate the $62,000 she paid her now-husband, Cortney Merritts, from her campaign account.

The watchdog group is the nonpartisan Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT). Its general counsel, Lisa Stevenson, asked the FEC to look into whether or not she used campaign funds for personal use.

‘It appears Rep. Bush’s campaign may have made payments for services that were unnecessary or above fair market value because of her personal relationship with the payee,’ FACT executive director Kendra Arnold said in the complaint.

‘If so, these payments would qualify as either impermissible payments to a family member or an impermissible gift.

In is not illegal to hire family members. But, it is illegal to pay a family member, in this case her spouse, over fair market value. Payments must be for ‘bona fide services’ related to their official duties of the congresswoman. You would think that Cori Bush would have corrected her alleged behavior from the first go around of FEC complaints.

In March 2023, Bush was hit with two Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaints over security payments she made to her new husband.

One complaint comes from the Committee to Defeat the President, an anti-Biden super PAC, which alleges Bush has “flouted” federal campaign finance laws by paying Merritts $60,000 for security in 2022. Merritts does not have a license to perform security functions in the congresswoman’s district.

Bush’s campaign also paid $225,281 to the St. Louis-based PEACE Security firm for personal protection throughout 2022. Bush and Merritts have been together since before she entered Congress in 2021, a press release from her office said.

FACT alleges that Bush’s campaign may have made payments for services that were not necessary or above fair market value because of her relationship with Merritts. Merritts has been paid more than $100,000 since she added him to her campaign’s payroll in January 2022. The payments were marked as security payments, then the description was switched to “wage expenses” in April.

She denies any wrongdoing and said her office is fully cooperating. She released a statement Tuesday in response to the investigation. She blames “right-wing” groups for her troubles.

“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 said in the Tuesday statement.

“I have not used any federal tax dollars for personal security services,” she said.

“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.”

Bush said Tuesday that in September of last year, after conducting a months-long investigation, the Office of Congressional Ethics “found no wrongdoing and voted unanimously to dismiss the case.”

“I look forward to this same outcome from all pending investigations,” she said.

“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.

It’s amusing that she thinks that “right-wing” groups could convince Biden’s DOJ to investigate, given the fact they have conducted a two-tier system of justice to Republicans and especially Donald Trump. There must be some solid evidence of wrongdoing if DOJ is going through with an official investigation.

Cori Bush is a member of The Squad and an ardent supporter of the Defund the Police movement. She’s a big ole hypocrite like the rest of them when it comes to her personal business. She isn’t the first Squad member to put a boyfriend or husband on her payroll. AOC hired her then-boyfriend, now husband’s consulting firm. Rep. Ilhan Omar paid $2.9 million to a consulting firm run by her husband in 2021. That amounted to 80 percent of the company’s revenue.

We’ll see if Cori Bush just walks away from this investigation. The Squad members are treated with kid gloves by Democrats. They haven’t had a great few week recently, either.

What a few weeks for The Squad:

Cori Bush under federal investigation.

Jamaal Bowman exposed as a 9/11 truther and has J-Street withdraw endorsement.

Ilhan Omar leaked Somali first speech.

AOC defends UNRWA after they are exposed for terrorist ties.

— AG (@AGHamilton29) January 30, 2024