{"id":1865770,"date":"2023-03-02T17:16:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T22:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1865770"},"modified":"2023-03-02T17:23:58","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T22:23:58","slug":"calls-to-investigate-cori-bushs-60k-payment-to-husband","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/calls-to-investigate-cori-bushs-60k-payment-to-husband\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls to investigate Cori Bush\u2019s 60k payment to husband"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalls-to-investigate-cori-bushs-60k-payment-to-husband%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1865770&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks to a reporter outside the U.S. Capitol August 2, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>OAN Roy Francis<br \/>\n2:16 PM PT \u2013 Thursday, March 2, 2023<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is being asked by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) to investigate campaign payments made by Representative Cori Bush to her husband.<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-1\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px; text-align: center;\"><script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-1'); });  \t<\/script><\/div>\n<p>A complaint sent from the FACT to the FEC\u2019s general counsel, Lisa Stevenson, asked the commission to look into the $60,000 that were paid to Bush\u2019s (D-Mo.) husband for security services.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"cmplz-placeholder-element twitter-tweet\" data-service=\"twitter\" data-category=\"marketing\" data-placeholder-image=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/localimages\/twitter-minimal.jpg64012198af63b.jpg\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">FEC complaint was just filed against Cori Bush because she paid her husband Cortney Merritts over $60K to act as her private security while they dated.<\/p>\n<p>Merritts has no private security license.<\/p>\n<p>Bush funneled campaign funds for personal use \u2014 a clear campaign finance violation.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Paul A. Szypula \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Bubblebathgirl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bubblebathgirl\/status\/1631408413463789569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-service=\"twitter\" data-category=\"marketing\" async data-cmplz-src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cRep. Cori Bush and her campaign committee may have used campaign funds for personal use,\u201d the complaint read.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Bush\u2019s campaign had paid her recent husband, Cortney Merritts, the money for security purposes in 2022. Merritts, however, did not hold a private security license, therefore he was not eligible to perform such services in St. Louis. The Bush campaign had also paid $225,281 for PEACE security, and $50,000 for personal protection by an individual named Nathaniel Davis.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says that committees may only spend funds for \u201cbona fide campaign or political purpose.\u201d Payments outside of that category would fall within two prohibited groups which include \u201cpayments to family members\u201d or \u201cgifts.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cWe request the FEC investigate whether Rep. Bush converted campaign funds for personal use by paying a salary that was not for bona fide services at fair market value,\u201d FACT said. \u201cUltimately, if one or more campaign laws are found to have been broken, we request the FEC hold the respondents accountable.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Moreover, Bush\u2019s office had confirmed that Bush and Merritts had been together since 2021, before bush had taken office, and had recently gotten married in a private ceremony. Therefore, the payments made to Merritts had taken place at least a year after they started their relationship.<\/p>\n<p>Merritts had accepted the payments even though he has no private security license in the city of St. Louis or any part of Bush\u2019s congressional district. He is also not listed on the Washington D.C. database of licensed security professionals.<\/p>\n<p>While paying thousands of dollars for a security detail with PEACE Security and Davis, Bush\u2019s campaign had been making the payments to Merritts. Bush\u2019s recent husband had been receiving bi-weekly checks of $2,500, and he was also reimbursed $2,359.59 for travel related costs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cAny time a member of Congress puts someone with a close personal relationship on the campaign payroll, increased scrutiny is necessary to ensure the legal standard has been met, which in this case are that the payments were for \u2018bona fide services at a fair market value,&#8217;\u201d FACT\u2019s executive director, Kendra Arnold, told Fox News. \u201cBoth the fact that reportedly Bush\u2019s husband isn\u2019t licensed to provide security services for which he was paid, and that she was simultaneously paying large amounts to another company for the same services raise red flags that warrant an investigation by the FEC.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"dpsp-content-bottom\" class=\"dpsp-content-wrapper dpsp-shape-rectangular dpsp-size-small dpsp-has-spacing dpsp-show-on-mobile dpsp-button-style-4\" style=\"min-height: 32px; position: relative;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/newsroom\/calls-to-investigate-cori-bushs-60k-payment-to-husband\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=calls-to-investigate-cori-bushs-60k-payment-to-husband\">Calls to investigate Cori Bush\u2019s 60k payment to husband<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 U.S. Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks to a reporter outside the U.S. Capitol August 2, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images) OAN Roy Francis 2:16 PM PT \u2013 Thursday, March 2, 2023 The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is being asked by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) to investigate campaign &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1889758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Calls to investigate Cori Bush\u2019s 60k payment to husband","footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[16975,20159,3755,5464,5866,4235,10848],"class_list":["post-1865770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oann","tag-60k","tag-bushs","tag-calls","tag-cori","tag-husband","tag-investigate","tag-payment"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Calls to investigate Cori Bush\u2019s 60k payment to husband","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1865770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1889758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1865770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1865770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1865770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}