Cori Bush’s security guard husband STILL gets paid $5,000 a month by her campaign while Justice Department investigates alleged ‘misuse’ of funds

Progressive ‘Squad’ member Cori Bush continues to hand out cash to her security guard husband despite a federal investigation into her alleged misuse of campaign funds for security purposes.

Her most recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) submit reveals that her campaign paid her husband Cortney Merritts – who works as her personal security guard – $15,000 in the first quarter of 2024.

That brings the total amount she paid him to more than $135,000. Bush has regularly paid Merritts $5,000 a month since January 2022, her documents show.

The two married in a private ceremony in February 2023, long after Merritts began working as her personal security guard for her $750,000 detail.

The continued flow of money to Merritts comes after she confirmed in January that the Justice Department is investigating her for possible misuse of $750,000 in campaign funds.

Bush said at the time that she is cooperating with all ongoing investigations and called the complaints filed against her “frivolous.”

“As a full-time member of Congress, I am not entitled to personal protection by the House of Representatives, and have instead used campaign funds as authorized to maintain security forces,” the Missouri Democrat said in a January statement.

“I have not used federal tax dollars for personal security services. Any reports that I used federal funds for personal security are simply false.”

The Democrat who represents St. Louis, Missouri, has spent thousands of dollars from her campaign account on security services since her election in 2020.

She was also one of the most fervent and outspoken supporters of the “defund the police” movement.

Before Merritts began working as a security guard for Bush, he also oversaw a moving company in St. Louis.

Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust (FACT) ethics watchdog told DailyMail.com at the time that there were “a host of other possible charges” against Bush.

That’s because in any campaign finance case, the documents filed with the FEC “must be accurate,” she explained.

In March 2023, FACT filed a complaint with the FEC about Bush’s campaign spending.

Arnold told DailyMail.com that the language in Bush’s FEC filings changed after her group filed the complaint — which could be a problem for the congresswoman.

Bush changed her description of her payments to her husband from “security” to “payroll costs,” Arnold said, calling it “disturbing.”

In addition to misusing campaign funds for personal use, Bush could also face charges of perjury, filing a false affidavit and mail fraud.

Cori Bush and her current husband Cortney Merritts together at the 2020 inauguration

“At the time, we strongly believed that there were several facts that led to the need for an investigation into Representative Bush’s payments to her then-husband,” Arnold told DailyMail.com of the initial filing.

“At issue was the amount she paid (Merritts), the fact that he was allegedly not licensed to perform the security services and that she also paid other individuals and another supplier for those same services.”

Merritts was not properly licensed to perform security duties in St. Louis — the district his wife represents — or Washington, D.C., at the time FACT filed their complaint. according to a Fox News report.

The D.C. Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, which manages the licensing database, did not immediately return a request for comment.

“That complaint is still pending before the FEC,” Arnold added. “And we won’t get a result back until they’ve finished and voted on it.”

The DOJ investigation, meanwhile, could take some time.

“The next step is basically waiting for the DOJ to do its job, and how long that takes varies,” Arnold said.

“We have no way of telling what exactly they are looking at, and exactly what evidence they are collecting,” she added.

“So at this point it’s really just a matter of waiting until they can do their job.”

Bush, R-Mo., married Cortney Merritts in a private ceremony in February 2023

Bush and Merritts are seen here with President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden during a Christmas party at the White House

The investigation into Bush has roiled both Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives.

“If she broke the law and is charged and found guilty, then obviously she should be 100 percent removed,” Moskowitz, D-Fla., told DailyMail.com in January.

Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett previously told DailyMail.com that the DOJ should “throw the book at her” over the “crazy amount of money” she has spent on security.

“She hired her husband, who was not qualified to be that kind of security guard,” he added. “Well, I guess we’ll have to decide that; are we going to allow this activity to take place?’