Cory Bush paid her husband for security services, but he does not have a private security license

FIRST TIME ON FOX: Missouri Democratic Rep. Corey Bush’s campaign last year provided $60,000 in private security payments to Courtney Merritts, whom she secretly married earlier this month.

Merritts, however, pocketed security payments despite not having a private security license in St. Louis, which is required to perform security functions in the area, Fox News Digital found. Merritts also received money from the campaign, as he simultaneously paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a St. Louis security firm and another person for personal protection.

On Monday morning, Fox News Digital filed a public records request with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, requesting information about Merritts’ private security license. In response, the Sunshine Law administrator stated that there were “no response records” to the request and Merritts did not have a valid license.

When asked if Merritts ever had a private security license, the administrator replied that “the last security license issued to this individual expired in 2012.”

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Rep. Corey Bush, Democrat, Missouri. (Getty images)

The record search, which covered the city of St. Louis and neighboring St. Louis County, covers the entire Bush constituency. According to the Metropolitan St. Louis Police website: “With the exception of St. Louis police officers, all individuals who perform security functions in the city of St. Louis must be licensed to do so through the Division of Private Security.” Similarly, in St. Louis County, security personnel must register with the same security department.

Merritts also does not appear in the database of licensed security professionals in Washington, D.C., the city’s Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection confirmed to Fox News Digital.

The Bush campaign pushed Merritts to cash in on security by paying out large sums to PEACE Security, a St. Louis-based firm that employs several “security operators” with military or law enforcement backgrounds, a cached version of its website says.

From January until the end of December 2022, Merritts received a steady stream of $2,500 checks totaling $60,000 from Bush’s security campaign, according to her documents. He was also reimbursed $2,359.59 for gas and travel expenses. While Merritts was cashing checks, the Bush campaign paid PEACE Security $225,281.80 for bodyguards, according to a review of its campaign records. The Bush Committee also paid $50,000 to a man named Nathaniel Davis for security at the time.

Meanwhile, Merritts says on his LinkedIn profile that he is the owner of Vetted Movers. On Jan. 3, he even offered relocation services to Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“I’m at the Capitol offering to help Kevin McCarthy move his shit out of the Speaker’s office and into his own,” Merritts wrote.

CORE BUSH CAMPAIGN MADE HALF A MILLION DOLLARS IN RESPECT TO PRIVATE SECURITY AFTER CALLS FOR LACK OF POLICE FUNDING

Democratic Congressman Corey Bush of Missouri. (CBSN)

KSDK of St. Louis reported Sunday night that Bush and Merritts recently tied the knot in a private ceremony. Following the announcement, Bush’s office confirmed their marriage on Monday morning, saying they had been together since before Bush took office in 2021.

Before adding Merritts to his campaign payroll, the outspoken Squad member was criticized for throwing funds at private security, calling for the police to be defunded.

Fox News Digital first reported Bush’s security payments in July 2021, prompting questions from CBS News about the money and whether it was hypocritical to hire close protection while insisting on depriving law enforcement of their budgets.

“Would they prefer me to die?” Bush asked. “Would you prefer me to die? Do you want to see it? Do you want to see me die? You know, because it could be an alternative.”

Bush said she would take care of her safety because she was assassinated and had “too much work.”

“So get over it and the defunding of the police has to happen,” she added.

CORE BUSH DEFENDS THE CALL TO PROTECT THE POLICE WITH PRIVATE SECURITY: “DO YOU PREFER THAT I DIE?”

FILE – Activist Corey Bush speaks at a press conference Wednesday, August 5, 2020 in St. Louis in this Aug. 5, 2020 file photo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, file)

The Bush campaign ended up paying more than half a million dollars for private security during the 2022 election cycle, primarily to PEACE Security.

Other members of the “team” have invested much less money in the campaign for personal security. For example, Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar reported about $65,000 in security services during the 2022 election, a review of her documents shows.

Like Bush, Omar married someone she paid with donor money. During the 2020 election, Omar’s campaign funneled nearly $3 million into the E Street Group, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm co-owned by her husband, Tim Minette.

Initially, Omar denied being romantically involved with Minette as payments were coming through. Minette even said that his ex-wife, who claimed in divorce papers that they had an affair, tried to ruin his career.

ILHAN OMAR CAMPAIGN CONSULTANT MONEY DECREASED BY MILLIONS AFTER PAYMENTS TO HUSBAND’S FIRM ARE INTERRUPTED

In this file photo taken on April 20, 2021, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-MN, speaks in Brooklyn Center, MN, during a press conference at the site of the fatal shooting in Daunt Wright by a police officer during a traffic stop. (AP Photo/Morrie Gash)

Later, Omar suddenly announced that they were married. E Street Group payments continued, and Omar said that removing her husband’s firm from her campaign payroll would be “stupid”. However, ahead of the conclusion of the 2020 election cycle, Omar announced that her campaign was terminating her contract with the E Street Group due to mounting criticism.

Since then, Omar’s campaign has paid a handful of other firms millions of dollars less for similar services, Fox News Digital reported earlier this month.

Meanwhile, according to photos posted online, Minette and Merritts have become good friends.

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“Love these guys,” Minette tweeted last July. “Screams[Cortney Merritts] and Conan Harris for a wonderful celebration[Cori Bush’s] birthday last weekend.

The Bush campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for Merritt’s security license and payments, as they paid large sums to the security firm.