The news of Bush’s marriage to a security guard follows revelations that he spent over $500,000 of campaign funds on private security.
Last weekend, sources claimed that Missouri Democratic Representative Cori Bush secretly wed a campaign security guard in St. Louis.
St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK reported on 11 February that Bush and his security guard fiancee Cortney Merritts had applied for a marriage license with the St. Louis Registrar of Deeds. The couple reportedly tied the knot in a small, private ceremony days after they applied for their marriage license, according to the station’s sources.
It has been reported that Bush has spent over $500,000 on his private security detail in the past two months. Bush is one of the most vocal federal legislators when it comes to defunding the police.
From October 20th to November 28th, the Missouri lawmaker’s campaign paid a total of $38,528.63 for “security services,” the majority of which went to Peace Security, also located in St. Louis. Despite her objections, the company has hired several “security officers” with prior military or police experience.
After spending $490,000 on security for the 2022 election cycle, Bush’s campaign made further security expenses that brought the total above the half-million dollar mark.
As reported by KSDK, Merritts is a veteran of the United States Army, and according to campaign finance records, he was paid $62,359 by the Bush campaign in 2022. Merritts received the bulk of their payment for security services, but they also claimed $2,359.
Reports also reveal that Peace Security was paid $317,680, bringing the total spend on security to $571,856.
Bush’s aides did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
She has been one of the most outspoken federal legislators calling for the defunding of police, even though Bush’s campaign has lavished money on the security detail.
The “Squad” member said in February to Axios, “I often tell [fellow Democrats], ‘If you all had addressed this before I got here, I wouldn’t have to say these things.'”
In July 2021, Fox News Digital broke the story regarding Bush’s security expenditures, prompting CBS News to investigate the funds and ask whether it was hypocritical for Bush to pay for security while advocating for cuts to law enforcement’s budget.
They’d rather see me dead, huh?” Asked Bush. “You’d rather I just die, right? Do you want to see that? What, you want me to perish? Considering the alternative, you should know that.”
Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, like Bush, married a campaign aide.
Reviewing federal papers, Fox News Digital found that once Omar stopped paying her husband’s firm, the amount of money paid to consultants dropped by nearly $2 million.
The E Street Group, a political consulting firm co-owned by Omar’s husband Tim Mynett, received millions of dollars from the Minnesota congressman throughout the 2020 election cycle. Mynett’s team earned half of his wife’s total spending.
Almost $3 million was paid to the E Street Group in the past by Omar’s committee for various services, such as advertising on various platforms, direct mail, video creation and editing, fundraising advising, and research.
After being investigated for the payments, Omar reversed course and stopped paying the E Street group before the 2022 cycle, paying less to other businesses for the same services.