Who is US progressive Cori Bush’s husband, Cortney Merritts? The Black Lives Matter activist wed her partner in 2023 – he’s now been accused of using taxpayers’ money for his own benefit
Part of the collective known as The Squad, with AOC, Cori Bush was previously accused of paying her husband Merritts – an Illinois native and army veteran – for security, although he was unlicensed
The accusation is based on Merritts’ alleged misuse of loans he obtained from the Small Business Administration during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, which were apparently obtained by fraudulent means.
According to the New York Post, he availed himself of US$8,500 from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program in 2020, claiming the funds would go towards his business, Vetted Couriers. He then applied for another loan with a US$10,000 advance from the programme, this time for a company named Cortney Merritts, which was rejected for having “nearly identical” paperwork to that of his first application.
In 2021, he applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan for a third company, also called Cortney Merritts, bagging US$20,832. The DC US Attorney’s Office claims he falsified information about the number of employees and revenue generated to obtain cash for his personal use.
So what else do we know about Cortney Merritts, who intends to plead not guilty, per The Washington Post?
What’s Cortney Merritts’ background?
Merritts hails from East St Louis, Illinois, per his X biography. He previously served in the US Army. Now he’s in the security business; and according to photographs he shared on social media, he is the father of two daughters and a grandfather of at least one child.
He was caught up in controversy before
In 2023, Cori Bush was investigated by the Justice Department for exploiting political funds the year before, when she spent US$60,000 from her campaign to hire Merritts for security services, in addition to paying more than US$225,000 to the private security firm Peace Security, per the New York Post. However, per Fox News Digital, Merritts was not licensed to provide private security.