In another scandal showing the sort of fraud, waste, and corruption that the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency is up against, one from back in the beginning of 2024 that has faded from the news but remains relevant, given the sort of potential corruption it shows, “Squad” member and former Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush has been investigated for misuse of federal funds.
For reference, the scandal involving former Rep. Bush relates to her security detail. Namely, revelations from early 2024 that she was paying her husband huge amounts of money to allegedly protect her, a contract many say was, like the more recent scandal involving Sen. Whitehouse, meant to funnel money into her husband’s pocket for her benefit. Reports from January of 2024 indicated the DOJ was investigating her for the alleged misuse of funds.
Further, Rep. Bush remained utterly unrepentant. Not only did she spend the final days of January 2024 defending herself and her decision to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to her husband for “security,” but it was revealed in April of 2024, months after the probe began, that she was still paying her husband thousands of dollars for the same thing.
In fact, reporting on that aspect of the scandal on April 18, 2024, the Daily Mail noted that Rep. Bush’s then-most recent FEC filing showed that she had paid her husband a whopping $15,000 in the first quarter of 2024, including payments for the months after January of 2024, when the DOJ investigation into her allegedly wasteful spending began.
It gets even worse: according to the most recent data from the FEC, which goes through December of 2024, when the woke Democrat’s time in office ended, as she lost her primary race, former Rep. Bush continued paying her husband, Cortney Merrits, the usual payment of $5000 even after that April, with the funneling of money continuing all the way through the end of December.
In fact, the last payment, classified as a “wage expense,” as all the payments were after April 3, 2023, was made on December 31, 2024. According to the FEC data, a total of 48 payments were made. All were bi-monthly wage and security payments of $2,500. Here are some of the last payments made from Rep. Bush’s office to Cortney Merritts, as shown by the FEC:
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The American Tribune’s Will Tanner, drawing the Department of Government Efficiency’s attention to the matter in a post on X, said, “What happened to this investigation? I was trying to research the outcome [of the investigation into former Rep. Bush’s spending], but found nothing other than the original story she was being investigated and this update…Does anyone know? @DOGE this might be something to look into.”
Rep. Bush, for her part, released a statement at the time the scandal broke in which she claimed to be completely innocent. Beginning that statement, the woke representative said, “First and foremost, I hold myself, my campaign, and my position to the highest levels of integrity. I also believe in transparency which is why I can confirm that the Department of Justice is reviewing my campaign’s spending on security services. We are fully cooperating in this investigation, and I would like to take this opportunity to outline the facts and the truth.”
Continuing, she justified her massive spending on her own husband’s wages, claiming that it was a necessity for her to use federal funds to pay for her security detail. She said, ignoring her own “defund the police” stance on security for normal people, “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. I have not used any federal tax dollars for personal security services. Any reporting that I have used federal funds for personal security is simply false.”
Later on in the statement, she addressed the issue of her husband being employed on the security detail. Attempting to pass the buck, she blamed the right for unfairly targeting her rather than admitting her own behavior was at fault. She did so by saying, “In particular, the nature of these allegations have been around my husband’s role on the campaign. In accordance with all applicable rules, I retained my husband as part of my security team to provide security services because he has had extensive experience in this area, and is able to provide the necessary services at or below a fair market rate. These frivolous complaints have resulted in a number of investigations, some of which are still ongoing.”
Adding to that, she insisted that an investigation would totally clear her name, and that the only reason the investigations are happening at all is because of right wing politicization. She said, “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. 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. 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.”
Watch former Rep. Bush try to defend her spending practices during a January of 2024 interview on MSNBC here: