‘Squad’ Democrat Cori Bush keeps husband on payroll with ‘wage expense’ payments

"Squad" Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) recently cut more checks from her campaign to her husband and longtime security guard — payments that came after the Justice Department opened an investigation into her major spending on private security.

Bush dished out $15,000 between April and June to Cortney Merritts for a “wage expense," adding on to the more than $137,000 she has paid her husband since 2022, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The new payments come months after Bush noted she is "fully cooperating" with a DOJ investigation into the private security disbursements, which are north of $750,000 combined, documents show.

The new filings show that Bush separately spent $16,720 on security services, paying two men named Joseph Walter and Joel Beard.

But the Bush campaign subsequently began to describe campaign payments to Merritts as a "wage expense" as scrutiny grew over the alleged enrichment of her husband. Bush faced FEC complaints from conservative groups , which argued she had been “falsely reporting the purpose of disbursements," which one group, the conservative Committee to Defeat the President, said was a "criminal act" that should be referred to the DOJ.

"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,” the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a separate group, wrote in an FEC complaint last year.

"If so, these payments would qualify as either impermissible payments to a family member or an impermissible gift," the watchdog argued.

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Bush faces a tough reelection this year and trails her Democratic primary challenger, St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, by 23 percentage points, according to a new poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for the CCA Action Fund.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Bush and Merritts for comment.