Rep. Cori Bush's (D-MO) recent marriage to a man hired by her campaign for security has raised ethical questions and prompted some conservative watchdogs to mull a complaint.
Hiring a family member to work for a campaign or as a contractor isn't a violation per se, provided the individual performed a bona fide service at fair market rates, ethics experts told the Washington Examiner. However, if her husband lacked qualifications for the job or was overcompensated, Bush could wind up under greater scrutiny.
REP. CORI BUSH MARRIED SECURITY GUARD, 'THE LOVE OF HER LIFE,' CHIEF OF STAFF SAYS
"It's not illegal to pay family members; however, it is frowned upon, simply because it's at times difficult to determine whether or not the payments or the salary is for fair market value," Kendra Arnold, the executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said in reference to campaigns.
Bush tied the knot with her campaign security guard Cortney Merritts in a private ceremony in St. Louis earlier this month, according to her chief of staff. Merritts was paid $62,359 for security services and a few reimbursements during the 2022 election cycle, per Federal Elections Commissions filings.
"There's no hard evidence now. But the question is raised because you have to see what exactly he did for services because she was paying him a flat retainer of $2,500 every two weeks," Paul Kamenar, counsel to the National Legal and Policy Center, said.
Earlier this week, Bush's chief of staff Abbas Alawieh seemingly confirmed that her relationship with Merritts predated her tenure in the lower chamber and that he has become a fixture around her congressional office.
"Mr. Merritts, an Army veteran and a security professional, has been Congresswoman Bush’s partner since before her Congressional tenure and is not employed by her Congressional office. Our team has come to know and appreciate him as a loving and caring Congressional spouse," Alawieh tweeted.
Some ethics experts said this was a non-issue, emphasizing that many members of Congress have relatives in campaign positions.
"At this moment, there's really nothing questionable given the fact that these were clearly services, and he was making kind of the going rate for a bodyguard. There doesn't seem to be a there there," Danielle Caputo, legal counsel for Ethics at Campaign Legal Center, which specializes in campaign laws, said.
While it can be murky to gauge precisely how Merritts's compensation meshes with fair market value, some reports have indicated that he lacked a private security license needed to perform those functions in the St. Louis area, fueling questions about his qualifications.
"Something that we'd look at is — is the person qualified for the position or can they do the job that the campaign is paying them for? And we did see today that there may be an issue with that as well, simply because he may not have had ... the proper license to do the job," Arnold said.
Kamenar noted that Bush was listed as spending thousands of dollars on other security services, raising the question of why Merritts was needed in the first place. Bush has shelled out at least $627,088 for security since 2019.
Bush is a proponent of the "Defund the Police" mantra — something she has defended as recently as last year as she crusades against police brutality. Her reliance on private security while backing the "Defund the Police" slogan has elicited cries of hypocrisy from many conservatives.
“If it’s a day that ends in Y, a Democrat is caught being a hypocrite," Republican National Committee spokesperson Emma Vaughn said.
"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," shot back when asked about her reliance on private security back in 2021.
Bush began making apparent retainer payments to Merritts about two weeks before her unoccupied vehicle was struck by gunfire in January of last year.
In 2018, Merritts started a moving firm named Vetted Movers and Couriers. Earlier this year, a Twitter account believed to be his posted a video offering to help then-aspiring House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) "move his s*** out of the Speaker’s office."
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
One of the main laws that govern these types of campaign finance issues is the Federal Election Campaign Act. Should she be found in violation of campaign rules, Bush will likely have to refund her campaign the excess amount paid to Merritts for his services, according to Kamenar.
Bush's office did not return a request for comment to the Washington Examiner.