Stories about leftist politicians wanting to eliminating public safety for ordinary Americans while having top-level security for themselves are not new. One Democrat politician, however, is so hypocritical she has not only hired private security services, she married her own campaign security guard.
KSDK revealed Sunday Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) secretly married Cortney Merritts last weekend in a private ceremony. As Gateway Pundit readers know, Bush is an ardent supporter of the Marxist “Defund the Police” movement.
Their relationship has proved lucrative for Merritts since it first began. He received over $60,000 for “security services” last year alone for protecting Bush.
He has also enjoyed several trips alongside Bush including one to her first inauguration back in January 2021.
By providing this money to Merritts, Bush may have violated campaign finance laws which forbid the use of campaign funds for personal use.
Will the House of Representatives investigate?
KSDK reported:
Congresswoman Cori Bush, the progressive Democrat who has long described herself as a single mom, is no longer single.
Bush got hitched in a private ceremony in St. Louis last weekend, according to sources. Marriage records filed with the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds show Bush signed her marriage license in a pact with Cortney Merritts on Feb. 11, a few days before their wedding.
Campaign finance records show Bush paid Merritts $62,359 for security services beginning in 2022, after their relationship began. Merritts’ Facebook posts show he traveled to Bush’s 2021 House inauguration and went with her to an appearance on Stephen Colbert and a trip to Central America, KSDK reported.
Merritts’ social media posts show he traveled with Bush on her trips to her first inauguration in January 2021, to the Ed Sullivan Theater for her appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and to Central America on a trip with a Congressional delegation.
The first direct campaign payments to Merritts were reported in 2022 after their relationship began.
Bush began spending significant money on hiring security guards in August 2020.Between then and now, her campaign spending records show $627,088 in security-related expenses.
Beyond the regular partisan sniping in Congressional politics, these particular campaign expenses to an apparent fiancé have the potential to draw the scrutinizing eye of the FEC and the Congressional Ethics Office.
Federal election law and House ethics rules prohibit the use of campaign funds for personal use, but guidance issued from the Federal Election Commission has allowed some members of Congress to pay family members if they performed “bona fide service.”
House ethics rules also ban members from borrowing campaign funds, which raises further questions about a campaign making direct payments to a partner.
