Before Cori Bush's Democrat voters denied her a third term in Congress, the former Squad member and Black Lives Matter activist talked a big game about fighting corruption. It turns out her household may have been a good place to start.
The former Missouri congresswoman's husband, Cortney Merritts, was charged Thursday with two counts of wire fraud for allegedly filing bogus applications with the Small Business Administration in order to fill his pockets with cash intended for struggling businesses.
According to the federal indictment, from July 2020 to April 2021, Merritts allegedly "devised, intended to devise, and participated in a scheme and artifice to obtain money and property, in connection with [the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loans program] and [Paycheck Protection Program] funds, by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, with the intent to defraud and with the knowledge of the scheme's fraudulent nature."
Over this period, Merritts allegedly collected over tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds "for his own benefit and enjoyment."
The Department of Justice indicated that the alleged scheme started in earnest when Merritts received a $8,500 EIDL loan from the Small Business Administration on July 7, 2020, for a moving business he ran called Vetted Couriers. Bush's husband allegedly claimed in his application for the loan that he had six employees and made $32,000 in gross revenue between January 2019 and January 2020.
'We look forward to litigating this case in the courtroom.'
The next day, Merritts allegedly filed another application for an EIDL loan in the name of a sole proprietorship called "Cortney Merritts." This time, he claimed to have a business that employed 10 people and made $53,000 in gross revenue the previous year. Merritts apparently even asked for a $10,000 advance on the loan. This application was rejected because the SBA indicated it was virtually identical to Merritts' previous submission.
According to the indictment, Bush's husband — evidently undeterred by the SBA growing wise to his efforts — tried hitting the government up for more cash in April 2021, applying for a PPP loan in the name of his sole proprietorship.
The indictment alleged that in his application, Merritts falsely claimed that he created the business in 2020 and that it generated $128,000 in gross income that year. He ended up with with a $20,832 PPP loan, which was ultimately forgiven by the SBA because Bush's husband allegedly stated he spent the money on payroll costs for his supposed 10 employees.
An attorney for Bush's husband said he plans to plead not guilty, reported the Washington Post.
"We look forward to litigating this case in the courtroom," said attorney Justin Gelfand.
While Bush was not mentioned in the indictment, she has previously faced accusations of misusing federal and campaign funds — in some cases for Merritts' benefit.
The "defund the police" Democrat used her congressional campaign budget to blow $812,000 on suspicious private security services and paid over $150,000 to her husband, reported the Washington Free Beacon. Bush continued paying her husband $5,000 in campaign funds monthly for "security services" even after the DOJ launched an investigation into her expenditures.
A complaint filed against Bush alleged that despite receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from her for security services, Merritts had not bothered to acquire private security licenses in the St. Louis or Washington, D.C., regions. The complaint was ultimately dismissed by the Office of Congressional Ethics.
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The “moderate Democrat” is like the tooth fairy — a feel-good fantasy you want to believe in but that doesn’t really exist.
Many reasonable people got excited when Rep. Seth Moulton’s post-election comments appeared in the New York Times, in which the Massachusetts Democrat and father of “two little girls” said he didn’t want them “getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.”
Moderate Democrats are a relic of the past. A Tom Daschle or Joe Crowley could never get elected under today’s radicalized Democratic umbrella.
Yet for merely suggesting that Democrats should shift their messaging on transgenderism, Moulton drew swift condemnation, with Steve Kerrigan, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, strongly rebuking the congressman’s remarks.
But the truth is that Moulton is no level-headed classical liberal. He’s a pro-choice, pro-gun-control, pro-open-borders climate-change alarmist. He gets a lower score from the conservative Heritage Foundation than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
Even so, Moulton was pilloried because admission to the liberal sanctum demands absolute ideological purity.
Similarly, laying the groundwork for a 2026 gubernatorial run, Bronx-area Rep. Ritchie Torres recently branded New York Governor Kathy Hochul as the “new Joe Biden.” He talks about her “failed leadership” but not her policies. Indeed, he says, “She’s well-intentioned but ineffective.”
The young lawmaker is merely masquerading as a moderate. This is a politically shrewd yet deceptive approach. It was only in 2022 when Torres supported granting citizenship and health care to all undocumented immigrants — a radical policy that is dangerous for all Americans.
Moderate Democrats are a relic of the past. A Tom Daschle or Joe Crowley could never get elected under today’s radicalized Democratic umbrella.
Take Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a Jewish liberal darling who consistently touts his pro-Israel credentials when it’s politically expedient. He advanced Biden’s pressure campaign against Israel back in April over concerns about how “Israel has executed aspects of this war.”
And when lawmakers professing to be friends of Israel aren’t voting like far-left anti-Semites, they’re defending them.
Last year’s vote calling for the ouster of Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee fell along party lines, with House Democrats, including Gottheimer and Torres, choosing to protect the Jew-hating politician.
No matter what these so-called moderates say, today’s Democratic Party has no space for tempered governance. Ultimately, the priority will always be to harness the party energy that still resides with progressives.
In the past, Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) declared his support for the Jewish state at major pro-Israel conferences held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Today, Markey consistently votes to block to block arms sales to Israel during its war against genocidal terrorists.
But for voters, it’s better to know the truth.
A far-left progressive is a wolf in wolf’s clothing. A politician posturing as a centrist Democrat is merely a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
However twisted and abhorrent the policies may be, knowing what to expect from radical Rashida Tlaib offers more comfort than having hopes dashed by a squeamish Chuck Schumer. As well-intentioned liberals continue their false fixation on curating a moderate path for the party, the Democratic establishment is ensuring that politicians aiming to be sound stewards over progressive power elites are left marginalized.
It's unlikely that Democrats such as Torres would offer a real departure from the likes of Hochul and the progressives their party has helped popularize. The only question is whether voters will continue being duped by politicians who will, in the end, abandon any semblance of sanity due to the cannibalization of the Democratic Party by the left.
Our nation’s extraordinary challenges will not be solved by leaving critical decisions up to spineless lawmakers whose power depends on defaulting to the rising influential progressives in the party.
I used to believe in the tooth fairy, but then I turned 8. I’d like to believe today’s pseudo-centrist Democrats are sincere. But I woke up and there was nothing under the pillow.
thefederalist.com
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