Department of Justice Conducting Criminal Investigation of 'Squad' Congresswoman: Report
CORRECTION, Feb. 1, 2024: Cortney Merritts is an Army veteran who had a private security license that expired in 2012, according to Fox News. An earlier version of this article mischaracterized his background in private security.
Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, one of the members of the far-left “squad” of House Democrats, is the target of a Department of Justice criminal investigation.
According to multiple reports, the St. Louis Democrat is accused of misspending funds that were allocated for security.
Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman broke the news on the social media platform X on Tuesday morning.
“BREAKING NEWS — THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT is conducting a criminal probe into @CoriBush, according to six sources familiar with the investigation,” Sherman posted.
🚨BREAKING NEWS — THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT is conducting a criminal probe into @CoriBush, according to six sources familiar with the investigation.
The Justice Department subpoenaed the House Sergeant at Arms for records relating to the misspending of federal security money.…
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 30, 2024
“The Justice Department subpoenaed the House Sergeant at Arms for records relating to the misspending of federal security money,” Sherman added.
According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, Bush has spent over $750,000 of government funds on security in less than two full terms as a congresswoman.
Bush’s husband, Cortney Merritts, whom she married last year, worked as a security guard for her and was paid more than $60,000 of those funds while working for her re-election campaign in 2022, Fox News reported last February.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department told the outlet that Merritts did not have a private security license at the time.
Asked by Fox News if he ever had such a license, an official said the “last security license issued to that individual expired in 2012.”
Merritts is an Army veteran.
The DOJ has not yet commented on the scope of its investigation, but the Daily Mail reported a nonprofit group called the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate Bush.
Merritts was paid a total of $62,000 to provide Bush with security.
Punchbowl News reporter Max Cohen reported after the news of the investigation broke that he had asked Bush in person about the criminal probe Monday evening.
Cohen said Bush “reprimanded” him for asking her about it and complained she was suffering a toothache.
I asked Cori Bush about the investigation directly last night. She repeatedly declined to comment and reprimanded me for approaching her as she had a toothache. https://t.co/Vskods0WYE
— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) January 30, 2024
“I asked Cori Bush about the investigation directly last night,” Cohen stated. “She repeatedly declined to comment and reprimanded me for approaching her as she had a toothache.”
Bush was first elected to the House in 2020 and quickly aligned herself with “squad” Reps. Alexander Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
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