Democratic Representative Cori Bush, currently under investigation by the Department of Justice, the Federal Election Commission, and the House Ethics Committee, has condemned comments by GOP Representative Troy Nehls.
Nehls had suggested that Bush wouldn’t need protection if she weren’t “so loud all the time.”
Bush’s investigation revolves around allegations that she misused campaign funds for personal security services, particularly payments to her former security guard and now-husband, Cortney Merritts.
The Federal Election Commission was alerted to potential violations by a conservative political action committee, leading to a similar complaint from a watchdog agency.
“She doesn’t even support the police,” Nehls told The Hill on Tuesday.
“But the idea to pay her thug, money to try to help protect her this and that, for what?” the Texas congressman said. “Maybe if she wouldn’t be so loud all the time, maybe she wouldn’t be getting threats,” Nehls added.
In response to Nehls’ criticism, Bush issued a statement clarifying that as a rank-and-file member of Congress, she was not entitled to personal protection by the House.
She asserted that campaign funds were used per rules to retain security services and denied using federal tax dollars for personal security services.
Cori Bush highlighted the racial undertones, stating:
“@RepTroyNehls just called my husband, a Black man and army veteran, a thug. And I’m the loud Black woman who needs to be silent in order to be safe from violence, or else? This is the kind of rhetoric that endangers Black lives. He must apologize.”
Bush has reportedly spent significantly on private security, totaling nearly $130,000 in the first three quarters of the previous year.
FEC records indicate payments to Merritts for security services, with the campaign defending the expenditures as permissible under FEC rules, per reports on the issue.
Despite facing criticism and investigations, Bush believes that right-wing groups are using the situation to “attack” her.
