Congresswoman Cori Bush, a member of the so-called ‘Squad’ of far-left legislators in the House, is under investigation by the Department of Justice for allegedly misusing government funds. The intrigue began when the House Reading Clerk read a subpoena into the record on Monday afternoon. 

Punchbowl News is reporting that Ms. Bush, a Democratic representative from St. Louis, is being investigated for her alleged abuse of the Member Representation Allowance, which is a fund used by members of the House to conduct official business either in Washington or in their home districts.

In a statement Tuesday, Ms. Bush confirmed the investigation and said it was launched after what she describes as “right wing organizations” complained that she had paid her husband for his work for her as a security consultant. She said the security is necessary because of the “relentless threats to my physical safety and life” she endures.

“I am under no illusion that these right-wing organizations will stop politicizing and pursuing efforts to attack me and the work that the people of St. Louis sent me to congress to do,” she said.

The House Administration Committee states that the allowance can only be used for “ordinary and necessary expenses incurred by the Member or the Member’s employees within the United States, its territories, and possessions in support of the conduct of the Member’s official and representational duties to the district from which elected.” Funds cannot, the committee states, “be used to pay for any expenses related to activities or events that are primarily social in nature, personal expenses, campaign or political expenses, or House committee expenses.”

On Monday, the House Reading Clerk, Susan Cole, read into the record a subpoena notification from the DOJ. “This is to notify … that the office of the sergeant at arms for the House of Representatives has been served with a grand jury subpoena for documents issued by the U.S. Department of Justice,” she said. 

The Congressional Institute explains that the members’ allowance is largely determined by “the number of residential addresses within a district, [the district’s] distance from Washington, and the price to rent office space in the district. … If a district is far from DC, has many inhabitants or has expensive real estate, there will be a larger budget than a rural district close to Washington.”