Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) made history in 2021 by becoming the state’s first Black woman and nurse representative. She is a member of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees and vice head of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. The lawmaker is now serving her first term in the Lower Chamber.
The politician caused controversy during her election campaign when it was reported that she spent about $500,000 of her campaign funds on private protection after advocating for cutting funding to the police.
On “Good Morning America,” Bush justified herself by claiming that people don’t grasp what defunding entails. According to her, the movement is in favor of allocating police budgets in order to address the country’s current police issues.
She’s now drawing criticism once more, this time for secretly wed a former security guard.
The lawmaker wed Cortney Merritts, a veteran of the US Army, earlier this month. She paid him more than $62,000 while he was employed as a security guard during Bush’s campaign, the most of which was for his protection services.
The Missouri congressman described prior journeys on which he had traveled with her. Merritts reportedly accompanied Bush in January 2021 on her journey to Central America, to her appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and to her inauguration. There have been rumors that they started dating sometime around 2022.
Some people might question what the fuss is about if Merritts supplied the legislator security services. The issue arises because Bush used her campaign funds, which contain restrictions on compensating family members, to pay for such services.
The House Ethics Office and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) might want to check more closely to make sure the money were spent for “bona fide services,” even though he wasn’t a member of her family at the time.
As long as she didn’t pay more than “fair market value” for his security services, she might be in compliance with congressional rules.
