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A GOP lawmaker employed racist stereotypes against Democratic Rep. Cori Bush and her husband amid a federal investigation over her alleged misuse of campaign funds, per Newsone.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently launched an investigation into Bush, who is accused of misusing campaign funds to pay for her personal security. Bush hired her husband, Cortney Merritts, to her security team in 2022 because “he has had extensive experience in this area, and is able to provide the necessary services at or below a fair market rate," the Democrat said.
In March 2023, two conservative groups filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission alleging Bush was illegally employing her husband.
Campaign finance records show that Merritts was paid $62,359 in direct payments. According to election commission rules, campaign funds can't be used for personal matters, but friends and family can earn money from a campaign if they are providing a "bona fide service."
“As a rank-and-file member of Congress I am not entitled to personal protection by the House, and instead have used campaign funds as permissible to retain security services,” Bush said in a statement. “I have not used any federal tax dollars for personal security services. Any reporting that I have used federal funds for personal security is simply false.”
Amid the investigation, Texas Rep. Troy Nehls suggested that Bush wouldn't need security if she wasn't "so loud" while referring to her husband as a "thug."
“She doesn’t even support the police,” Nehls said of Bush. “But the idea to pay her thug money to try to help protect her this and that, for what? Maybe if she wouldn’t be so loud all the time, maybe she wouldn’t be getting threats.”
Bush called on Nehls to apologize for employing racist stereotypes.
"@RepTroyNehls just called my husband, a Black man and army veteran, a thug. And I’m the loud Black woman who needs to be silent in order to be safe from violence, or else? This is the kind of rhetoric that endangers Black lives. He must apologize," Bush tweeted.
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