Ex-‘Squad’ Democrat Partners with Controversial Activist for Political Comeback

Former “Squad” Member Cori Bush Pays $23,000 to Consulting Firm Linked to Controversial Activist

Former Congresswoman Cori Bush, who is running to reclaim her Missouri House seat after losing it in 2024, has paid more than $23,000 to a consulting firm with ties to controversial Palestinian American activist Rasha Mubarak, according to a review of Federal Election Commission filings.

Bush’s campaign made two separate payments totaling $23,761 to Unbought Power on December 5 for “Fundraising Consulting.” The firm appears to be the same organization that previously drew scrutiny when Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., paid it over $400,000 between 2020 and 2024.

Questions have emerged about the relationship, as Unbought Power—normally based in Florida—is listed with the same P.O. Box address as Bush’s campaign in recent filings. Neither Bush’s campaign nor Mubarak responded to multiple requests for comment on the nature of these payments.

Unbought Power and its founder Mubarak were recently highlighted in a report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy that examined Tlaib’s connections to radical groups. The report noted Mubarak’s affiliation with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was an unindicted co-conspirator in a 2009 terror-financing trial.

“Personnel is policy. Hiring a consultant with such a well-documented track record of anti-American and antisemitic ideas tells us everything we need to know about Cori Bush’s priorities,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, in response to the payments.

Mubarak, who founded Unbought Power in March 2020, has a history of controversial statements, including multiple public calls to “abolish the police” and “defund the police.” She has also been associated with Dream Defenders, an activist group co-founded by self-described socialist Phillip Agnew, who has faced criticism for calling Zionism “racist, exploitative, and exclusionary.”

In social media posts, Mubarak has repeatedly criticized Israel, accusing it of “ethnic cleansing” weeks before the October 2023 Hamas attack. “These aren’t clashes – it’s an ongoing occupation,” she tweeted in May 2021. “These aren’t evictions – they are forced expulsions. This isn’t a conflict – it’s settler colonialism, it’s ethnic cleansing, it’s oppression, it’s apartheid.”

The financial relationship between Bush and Unbought Power extends back several years. Tlaib’s leadership PAC, Rooted in Community Leadership, where Mubarak served as treasurer, previously donated almost $8,000 to Bush’s past campaigns. Additionally, the Squad Victory Fund, a joint fundraiser supporting far-left “Squad” members including Bush, paid over $85,000 to Unbought Power between 2022 and 2023 and transferred nearly $60,000 to Bush’s campaign during that same period.

In 2024, the Washington Examiner reported that Tlaib’s campaign had severed ties with Mubarak’s firm, stating in an automated email that “Our campaign is no longer working with Rasha Mubarak’s firm Unbought LLC.”

Bush served as a member of the progressive “Squad” during her time in Congress from 2021 to 2023, alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. She was defeated in the August 2024 Democratic primary by Wesley Bell, a more moderate Democrat who criticized her positions on Israel and policing.

Bush recently faced criticism for complaining about insufficient public transit funding after having voted against the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $108 billion for public transit investments. Bush and other Squad members opposed the bill because they wanted it tied to broader social spending in the Build Back Better Act.

When asked about this apparent contradiction, a Bush campaign spokesperson stated that “Universal pre-K, expanded Medicare, the Child Tax Credit, and lower prescription drug prices were all policies that Missouri’s 1st District sent the Congresswoman to DC to win,” adding that Bush “wanted to fight for more, not settle for less.”