Hancock & Kelley: What the investigation of Cori Bush could mean

St. Louis Congresswoman Cori Bush made national news by confirming she is the subject of a Department of Justice investigation.

Bush denies wrongdoing but this may spell trouble for her beyond the ballot box, according to FOX 2’s Hancock and Kelley political team.

“I hold myself, my campaign, and my position to the highest levels of integrity,” Bush said, reading a statement on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. “I also believe in transparency, which is why I can confirm that the Department of Justice is reviewing my campaign’s spending on security services.”

She did not take questions from reporters.

Republican consultant John Hancock and Democrat consultant Michael Kelley said the announcement of a DOJ subpoena for records in the House of Representatives suggested this was more than a ‘review’. 

“The office of the Sergeant at Arms for the House of Representatives has been served with a grand jury subpoena for documents,” a clerk said before the body Monday.

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“This is the Justice Department; they would be investigating the violation of a crime. If they find she’s violated a crime, it’s far more serious than any of the other things that have been serious to this point,” Kelley said. “As we’ve experienced here in St. Louis recently, both in the city and the county, people wind up going to jail when the Justice Department’s involved and they find you to be guilty.”

Kelley was referring to former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger and the former St. Louis Board of Aldermen President, Lewis Reed, among others.

“We do know that there’s a Justice Department investigation,” Hancock said. “We know they’ve subpoenaed records of Cori Bush’s expenditures of taxpayer money as a member of Congress.  We know that there’s a grand jury empaneled. Those three facts alone tell me that this is not going in a positive direction for Cori Bush.

Whether it affects her re-election, I don’t know. I suspect her problems are a little larger right now than whether or not she’s going to be reelected to Congress this fall.”

Bush just launched her campaign Saturday for a third term in north St. Louis County.

Federal Election Commission reports show Bush’s campaign has paid Cortney Merritts, whom she married in February. These payments were made on a regular biweekly basis of $2,500 throughout her current term, topping $92,000 just from January 2022 through September 2023. The payments were first listed as security services, then later listed as wages.

The report for the final quarter is due out this week.

The records also show her campaign has paid a separate firm, Peace Security, more than $250,000 during the same period.

The campaign has reportedly paid more than $700,000 for security-related expenses during her two terms in Congress. 

Bush said there was a difference between using campaign money and using taxpayer dollars.

“Since before I was sworn into office, I have endured relentless threats to my physical safety and life,” she said. “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. I have not used any federal tax dollars.”

Bush is part of the so-called “Squad,” a group of progressive Democrats in Congress.

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“Right-wing organizations have lodged baseless complaints against me, peddling notions that I have misused campaign funds to pay for personal security services,” Bush said.

“This is quite similar to what we’ve experienced with Donald Trump,” Kelley said. “He’s using it and trying to run politically and saying it’s being weaponized against him.  I don’t know how Cori Bush makes that argument. This is troublesome.”

“If she’s misusing taxpayers’ dollars and the Department of Justice is onto it, then this could be a big, big problem,” Hancock said. 

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, who is opposing Bush in the August Democratic primary, made the following statement:

“A DOJ investigation into the potential misuse of public funds is a serious matter. As a prosecutor, I understand that Rep. Bush is entitled to due process. It is my hope that Rep. Bush will cooperate fully with the investigation and be transparent with the public in responding to the legitimate concerns they are likely to have.

I entered this race because I believe the people of this district deserve a representative they can trust who will show up and get results for them. I feel more strongly about that now more than ever.”

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