Cori Bush pays more from campaign to guru and husband for security
Gabe Kaminsky
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Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), a member of the so-called “Squad” who has repeatedly called to defund the police, dished out tens of thousands of dollars more in campaign funds for private security to a spiritual guru and her husband, records show.
Bush’s campaign paid $27,500 combined during the first quarter of 2023 to Nathaniel Davis III, a friend of the congresswoman and former Black Panther party member who claims to be a spiritual guru, and Cortney Merritts, whom she quietly married in February, according to a Federal Election Commission filing on Saturday.
CORI BUSH FACES SECOND CAMPAIGN FINANCE COMPLAINT OVER PAYING HUSBAND FOR SECURITY
The Missouri lawmaker, who assumed office in 2021, has long supported the controversial “defund the police” movement despite many of her Democratic colleagues backing away from it, particularly ahead of the November 2022 midterm elections. She has equated law enforcement to “slavery” and “bondage.”
“The celebration included formerly enslaved people and their descendants, and focused on the promise of freedom from slavery, bondage and white supremacy,” Bush wrote in a June 2021 op-ed in USA Today on Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of black slaves in 1865. “Unfortunately, that dream has yet to be fully realized. The vestiges of slavery continue to deny us reparations, liberation and freedom.”
Davis, who received $15,000 during quarter one from Bush’s campaign, identifies as a guru named Aha Sen Piankhy, the Washington Free Beacon reported. He has alleged to be 109 trillion years old and pushed antisemitic theories in the past, while reportedly teaching classes on how to avoid buying food from Jewish people.
The security guard has been paid $152,000 from the congresswoman’s campaign since 2020, filings show. Davis reportedly claimed in March that he had a “non-disclosure agreement” barring him from commenting on the “security services” he’s provided to Bush.
Meanwhile, Bush’s campaign paid $12,500 during the first quarter to Merritts, filings show. The relationship has earned the ire of watchdogs, who have called on the FEC to investigate whether the payments were indeed “fair market value,” the Washington Examiner reported.
Campaigns cannot use funds for personal use, and money allocated to family members for candidates must be for bona fide services, according to the FEC. Recipients of campaign money are intended to be paid fair market, however, it is often unclear what constitutes this.
In addition to paying Davis and Merritts, Bush’s campaign doled out more than $26,000 during quarter one to Peace Security, a right-wing firm that has slammed gun control laws and backed the Second Amendment, filings show.
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The congresswoman has notably said that Republicans have a “distorted view of the Second Amendment” and that “gun violence prevention policies are among the most popular in our country.”
Bush’s campaign did not return a request for comment.