The husband of former Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush, a fixture on 'The Squad', was charged with defrauding the federal government

The  husband of former Democratic congresswoman Cori Bush, Cortney Merritts, was charged Thursday with defrauding the U.S. federal government to illegally collect thousands of dollars in loans under several of the small business assistance programs implemented during the pandemic by COVID-19. In a statement, the Department of Justice (DOJ) explained that Merritts falsified various details about his alleged businesses to receive more than $20,000 in Small Business Administration loans between 2020 and 2021 under the Economic Disaster Loan Program and the Payroll Protection Program.

During the last few years, Bush has been considered one of the most radical figures in the Democratic Party, to the point of being part of the most left-wing and extremist faction of the party, known as "The Squad". Said faction, made up of other radical congresswomen such as Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has been the standard-bearer for several of the Democrats' most outrageous positions in Congress, such as voting against a resolution to ban members of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas from entering the United States. Bush has not only supported these positions, but even ended his role as a congressman in the worst possible way after suffering a defeat in the 2024 primary and blaming his debacle on the Jews.

Questionable payments to her husband

The indictment against Merritts, who married Bush in 2023, comes a year after the DOJ opened an investigation against the former congresswoman over her congressional campaign funds directed to her husband. According to different media outlets, the Democratic leader used her election campaign payments to spend nearly $820,000 on private security services, which included more than $150,000 in payments to her husband.

While the entire case was as questionable as it was controversial, Bush kept up the payments even after the DOJ formally launched an investigation into the matter, paying Merritts $5,000 a month for "security services." Different media outlets also noted that the former congresswoman funneled tens of thousands of dollars for other "security services" to her close friend Nathaniel Davis, who has claimed to have supernatural powers that allow him to control the weather.