Cortney Merritts, the husband of former U.S. Representative Cori Bush, has been charged with wire fraud related to COVID relief funds.
Merritts allegedly obtained $20,000 in pandemic loans by submitting false information about his business to the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021. He faces two counts of wire fraud and plans to plead not guilty.
This comes after an investigation into payments made to Merritts for security services by Bush’s campaign in 2022, despite him lacking a security license. The payments raised concerns about potential misuse of campaign funds.
The Federal Elections Commission had previously been asked to investigate whether Bush misappropriated funds for personal use.
