FEC Complaint Filed Over Squad Member Cori Bush’s Private Security Payments to Husband

At issue is this case is whether the payments made to Merritts were for a bona fide service and at a fair market rate, and if not then they would be either a impermissible gift or a  payment to a family member. When a campaign negotiates salary payments with an unrelated  party, both sides negotiate for their best interest and generally fair market value is naturally reached and paid for a service the campaign needs. However, when the campaign hires someone with whom the candidate has a close personal relationship, there may be favoritism or an incentive for the campaign to pay for services that are not necessary or pay above the fair market value for those services. These types of payments are subjected to more scrutiny, especially when other factors present indicate the payments were not for bona fide services at fair market value. In this case Bush and Merritts clearly had a close relationship that resulted in marriage and there are other factors present, namely that (1) the payments were regularly made at the same time the campaign was apparently paying a security company for the exact same services and (2) the  payee did not have a license to perform the services for which he was being paid.