(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Reporter Jake Sherman, the founder of Punch Bowl News, reported Tuesday that the Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into Rep. Cori Bush, D-NY.
“THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT is conducting a criminal probe into @CoriBush, according to six sources familiar with the investigation,” Sherman tweeted, promising an article later Tuesday. “The Justice Department subpoenaed the House Sergeant at Arms for records relating to the misspending of federal security money.”
🚨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
Sherman’s information follows a Monday report by Punch Bowl about the DOJ investigating an unnamed Democrat for the misuse of House funds.
The DOJ’s investigation is likely related to Bush paying her husband thousands of dollars to be her bodyguard. Cortney Merritts, who worked as a security guard for the “Squad” member before marrying her earlier this year, has pocketed more than $100,000 from Bush’s campaign since Bush added him to her payroll in January 2022.
His payments were initially marked as a “security” expense, but were changed to “wage expenses” in April.
Bush and Merritts were married in February of this year, but her campaign acknowledged they had been together for more than a year while it was paying him for “security” services.
It is still not clear what “security” service Merritt provides. As of February, he did not have a private security license, and his name did not appear in a Washington, D.C., database of licensed security specialists, according to Fox News.
Bush was one of Congress’s most outspoken “defund the police” advocates during and after the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots.
When Bush has been criticized for her defund the police stance and her use of taxpayer funds to purchase private security, the leftist lawmaker has responded with more hypocrisy.
“I have had attempts on my life and I have too much work to do. They would rather I die?” she hysterically asked in 2021.
“You would rather me die? Is that what you want to see? You want to see me die? You know because that could be the alternative,” she said.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
