Popular Democrat Accused of Serious Ethic Violations

The Federal Election Commission is being called upon to investigate Representative Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, over allegations of violating federal campaign finance laws.

According to a letter sent by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust on Thursday, Bush is accused of paying her husband approximately $62,000 for security over the course of the past year.

The organization believes that these payments require closer examination due to the personal relationship between Bush and the campaign vendor in question.

“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,” said Kendra Arnold, the group’s executive director. “If so, these payments would qualify as either impermissible payments to a family member or an impermissible gift.”

After Rep. Cori Bush recently announced her marriage to Cortney Merritts, concerns arose about payments totaling around $62,000 made to him by her congressional campaign for security over the past year.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust has written to the Federal Election Commission urging an investigation into the matter.

According to FEC records, payments were made to Mr. Merritts despite the fact that he does not hold a security guard license in either Missouri or the District of Columbia.

While House ethics regulations prohibit the employment of family members by lawmakers, federal campaign finance laws do not forbid such appointments as long as a “fair market value” is compensated.

However, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust has suggested that the fair market value may not have been met in this case, as Mr. Merritts does not possess a security guard license.