Far-left “Squad” member Rep. Cori Bush is under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice for allegedly misusing campaign funds to pay a bodyguard whom she later married, according to reports.
The Justice Department contacted the House on Monday with a subpoena for documents related to the Bush investigation, which was reported by Punchbowl News.
Ms. Bush, a Missouri Democrat and former Black Lives Matter activist who called for defunding the police, spent $756,000 on security since she was first elected to the House in 2020.
The nonpartisan Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) petitioned Lisa Stevenson, acting general counsel of the Federal Elections Commission, to investigate whether she “used campaign funds for personal use.”
Ms. Bush paid the man she later married $62,000 from her campaign to be her bodyguard, according to FACT.
She married her bodyguard, Cortney Merritts, in a private ceremony in early 2023. In 2022 he was on the payroll of her reelection campaign.
“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,” FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold said in the complaint.
“Therefore, we 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,” she wrote. “Ultimately, if one or more campaign laws are found to have been broken, we request the FEC hold the respondents accountable.”
The Washington Times reached out to Ms. Bush’s office.