In May 2025, a tornado tore through St. Louis, Missouri. Former Rep. Cori Bush's nonprofit, Politivist Power, solicited donations for relief. In May 2025, Politivist Power reported a $4,500 cash receipt. In September 2025, another $1,000. In January 2026, $800.
Now Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway wants to know where it all ended up.
"We have launched an investigation into Politivist Power," Hanaway announced, stating that "donations solicited for Missouri tornado victims were diverted to Bush's PAC." The PAC in question is Politivist Action PAC, the political committee arm connected to the same operation. Federal Election Commission filings show $24,927 in in-kind fundraising and services flowing between the entities.
The math is not complicated. People gave money because a tornado destroyed their neighbors' homes. That money appears to have moved from a 501(c)(4) nonprofit — Politivist Power — toward political infrastructure benefiting Bush's candidacy. Bush is currently running for Missouri's 1st Congressional District against Rep. Wesley Bell in an August 4 Democratic primary.
Bush's campaign has pushed the message that she wants to "get big money out of politics" and has "never taken a dime from corporations." Maybe not from corporations. But if the AG's investigation holds up, the money may have come from tornado victims who thought they were helping their community, not funding a congressional campaign.
Bush's husband, Courtney Merritts, is also connected to the Politivist operation, adding another layer to an arrangement that already looks less like civic engagement and more like a family business wearing a nonprofit jersey.
The pattern is familiar enough to have its own template. Set up a nonprofit adjacent to your political operation. Solicit donations under an emotional cause — disaster relief, social justice, community empowerment. Then watch the money migrate sideways into the campaign account through in-kind services, shared vendors, and overlapping staff. The IRS is supposed to catch this. The FEC is supposed to catch this. Usually neither does, until a state AG starts asking questions.
When the nonprofit, the PAC, the candidate, and the candidate's spouse all share the same name on the paperwork, the word "coincidence" stops applying.