NEW: Cori Bush campaign paid additional $17,500 to husband in last 3 months of 2023, bringing total to $120,000

It has been revealed that Rep. Cori Bush paid her husband, Cortney Merritts, an additional $17,500 between October 1 and December 31, 2023 for his services on her campaign. 

New filings submitted by the Missouri Democrat to the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday night show that Merritts was compensated $2,500 biweekly during that period, bringing the total amount he received since joining the campaign as a security guard in 2022 to $120,000.

According to Fox News, while politicians can pay family members to assist them so long as they are providing "bona fide" services at a reasonable market rate, Merritts was raking in money at the same time as Bush's campaign was paying St. Louis-based security companies far more for their services.

News of the Department of Justice's investigation into Bush's alleged misuse of federal funds first came to light on Tuesday. 

"I have not used any federal tax dollars for personal security services," she told reporters. "Any reporting that I have used funds for personal security is simply false ... Right-wing organizations have launched baseless complaints against me." 

She also added that she holds her "campaign, and [her] position to the highest levels of transparency.”

The nonpartisan Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) called on the FEC to investigate a payment of $62,000 to Merritts, filing an ethics complaint that led to a subpoena on Monday.

"It appears Rep. Bush's campaign may have made payments for services that were unnecessary or above fair market value because of her personal relationship with the payee," FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold said. "If so, these payments would qualify as either impermissible payments to a family member or an impermissible gift."

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.