Staff Reports
In a recent incident, Representative Cori Bush of Missouri shouted at House Majority Leader Steven Scalise, saying that his bills were racist. This behavior is nothing new for the lawmaker, and it is no surprise that she will be facing an ethics complaint. Even worse, she then tried to fundraise from the incident a couple of days later.
A civic organization has asked the Office of Congress Ethics to investigate Bush for using official House resources for her political purposes. The group, which is known as FACT, stated that she used footage from the House floor to raise money. In addition to violating House ethics rules, the complaint also noted that she did so even though the video was taken by C-SPAN.
The complaint made it clear that Bush was wrong. Since the laws against the misuse of public resources are designed to prevent their theft and abuse, it’s important that the Office of Congress enforces them. This can help address the concerns of the public about politicians using taxpayer funds for their own gain.
Bush's use of official resources and disregard of the law are very serious issues. FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold stated that their complaint has been made clear, and they hope that the OCE takes immediate action to determine the appropriate penalty. Even if she didn’t use the footage from the floor to promote her fundraising efforts, her behavior still was. In addition, the footage showed members of Congress behaving uncivilly.
Bush is no stranger to ethical issues. In the past, she was accused of using campaign money to pay for her husband's security services. She also used her Twitter account to post complaints about being unhoused. These actions, along with other similar ones, show a pattern of unethical behavior that needs to be thoroughly investigated.
