The husband of former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, has been charged with defrauding the federal government after allegedly receiving $20,000 in pandemic relief funds, according to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal prosecutors said Thursday that 46-year-old Cortney Merritts of St. Louis submitted false information about his supposed businesses to secure loans from the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He now faces two counts of wire fraud, Fox News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. Merritts intends to plead not guilty to the charges,\u201d Merritts\u2019 lawyer, Justin Gelfand of Margulis Gelfand DiRuzzo & Lambson, said in a statement. \u201cAs with any indictment, this is only the government\u2019s version of the story. We look forward to litigating this case in federal court in Washington, D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Authorities say Merritts repeatedly applied for business loans, claiming to run a company while allegedly misrepresenting both its revenue and the number of employees he had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prosecutors said one of Merritts\u2019 loan applications, submitted in July 2020, was denied because it closely resembled an earlier application he had filed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His indictment comes a year after the Justice Department launched an investigation into Cori Bush\u2014a former member of the progressive \u201cSquad\u201d\u2014over campaign payments made to her husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bush lost her primary last year following backlash over her criticism of Israel\u2019s response to the October 7, 2023, attacks carried out by Hamas terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The so-called \u201cSquad\u201d Bush formerly belonged to is an informal group of left-wing lawmakers in Congress that includes representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As far back as March 2023, a government watchdog group asked the Federal Elections Commission to investigate payments to her husband for private security services, Fox News reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBush\u2019s campaign paid her now-husband, Cortney Merritts, $60,000 for security in 2022 despite him not having a private security license, which is needed to conduct such services in the St. Louis region. While Merritts collected the payments, Bush\u2019s campaign also spent $225,281 with PEACE Security and $50,000 with an individual named Nathaniel Davis for personal protection,\u201d Fox News reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust sent the complaint to Lisa Stevenson, the then-acting general counsel for the FEC, asking the commission to investigate whether \u201cRep. Cori Bush and her campaign committee may have used campaign funds for personal use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt appears Rep. Bush\u2019s campaign may have made payments for services that were unnecessary or above fair market value because of her personal relationship with the payee,\u201d the group said. \u201cIf so, these payments would qualify as either impermissible payments to a family member or an impermissible gift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTherefore, we request the FEC investigate whether Rep. Bush converted campaign funds for personal use by paying a salary that was not for bona fide services at fair market value,\u201d it said. \u201cUltimately, if one or more campaign laws are found to have been broken, we request the FEC hold the respondents accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She allegedly made the payments to her husband even as he did not have a license to provide security in St. Louis or anywhere in Rep. Bush\u2019s district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith the exception of St. Louis Police Officers, all persons performing a security function in the City of St. Louis must be licensed to do so through the Private Security Section,\u201d the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bush is not the only Democrat who has been scrutinized for paying family members in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters has paid her daughter over $1.2 million since 2004, which included the younger Waters getting another six figures in payments in the 2022 cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKaren Waters pocketed $192,300 from her mother\u2019s campaign to keep her \u2018slate mailer\u2019 operation afloat between Jan. 2021 and Dec. 2022, a Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission filings shows. The setup involves outside campaigns paying Waters\u2019 campaign to appear on the slate mailers \u2013 or endorsement mailers \u2013 sent out to constituents in the Los Angeles area,\u201d Fox News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe practice is highly unusual on the federal level, and Waters appears to be the only national politician using it to grab committee cash,\u201d the outlet added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The husband of former U.S. Rep. 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