Beleaguered Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Florida) violated House ethics rules, a House Ethics Committee panel said Friday, citing the findings of a years-long investigation into whether she used covid pandemic money to bolster a run for Congress.
The vote follows a rare public hearing Thursday, in which members of the House Ethics Committee queried Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyer about allegations related to her family’s South Florida health care business. The committee’s investigation outlined 27 potential ethics violations in a lengthy document related to the episode, and Cherfilus-McCormick separately faces criminal charges and up to 53 years in prison tied to an overpayment of Federal Emergency Management Agency dollars.
Cherfilus-McCormick has maintained her innocence, describing the accusations as “unjust.”
“I look forward to proving my innocence,” she said after the panel’s decision Friday. “Until then, my focus remains where it belongs: showing up for the great people of Florida’s 20th District who sent me to Washington to fight for them.”
The full Ethics Committee is expected to meet in April, after a House recess, and recommend whether Cherfilus-McCormick should be expelled, censured or face some other form of discipline. A fellow Florida lawmaker, Republican Greg Steube, has pledged to bring any proposed consequence swiftly to the full House for a vote.
“Finally, the Ethics Committee agreed that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has committed 25 ethics violations, including money laundering, fraud, and election violations,” Steube posted on social media Friday. “As I have said before, this represents one of the most egregious breaches of public trust, particularly for her constituents in Florida. I will proceed with my motion to expel her once the final sanctions hearing concludes and the committee makes a recommendation to the House.”
A committee recommendation does not guarantee Cherfilus-McCormick would be expelled, however, because two-thirds of the House must vote to eject a member. Many Democrats would have to get on board to make that happen.
If she is ejected from the chamber, it would give Republicans a key advantage: The razor-thin majority party would have a little more room to pass bills.
The Justice Department brought its charges against Cherfilus-McCormick and several others, including her brother and tax preparer, in November, concluding an investigation that began during the Biden administration.
The criminal investigation found that the lawmaker’s health care company was overpaid $5 million in 2021, the apparent result of a clerical error. Instead of returning that money, Cherfilus-McCormick distributed some of it to friends and family, who in turn later donated to her campaign committee, according to the Justice Department. Such so-called straw donations would be illegal under campaign finance laws.
At the Thursday hearing, which spanned more than six hours, the lawmaker’s lawyer, William Barzee, lost a bid to delay the subcommittee’s ruling, which he argued could taint potential jurors’ opinion ahead of the federal court proceedings later this year.
Cherfilus-McCormick also had raised concerns about due process. “I am deeply disappointed the Committee chose to move forward with this trial while denying my legal team reasonable time to prepare,” she said in a statement to The Washington Post.
Barzee also argued he did not have enough time to learn the details of the case or interview witnesses he may have called to defend his client. He has represented Cherfilus-McCormick for only about three weeks and often sought clarity from his client during the questioning period, many times on an open mic, and occasionally had to correct lawmakers’ pronunciation of his name.
“We’re a little impatient I think. We’re tired,” the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-California), said near the end of the hearing, noting the length of the investigation and in response to Barzee’s repeated pleas for more time to question witnesses and get up to speed on the case.
The House panel’s attorney said the multiyear investigation and ethics procedure led to three requests for information from the lawmaker, 59 subpoenas and the amassing of 33,000 documents. At least two of the congresswoman’s colleagues from the Congressional Black Caucus attended the hearing in part: Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio).
Cherfilus-McCormick’s chief of staff, Naomie Pierre-Louis, denied reports that the congresswoman asked for a pardon at a White House Christmas party last year, as at least one media report suggested. “She did not attend the White House Christmas event to request a pardon,” she told The Post.
The accusations and proceedings have been awkward for Democrats. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) has made corruption a major plank of Democrats’ agenda to win back Congress, with top Democrats on key committees already plotting how to hold the Trump administration accountable if they have the gavels next year. But most Democrats have dodged questions about whether the Florida congresswoman should be punished for her actions.
Jeffries has said he would let the Ethics Committee make its own conclusion about Cherfilus-McCormick’s conduct. The last member of the House who was thrown out was George Santos (R-New York), in 2023, who was only the sixth person to face that consequence. He was found to have made up some of his biography, among other misdeeds.
As the investigations into her went on, Cherfilus-McCormick launched a reelection campaign last year.
Several Democrats and Republicans, an independent and a candidate with no party affiliation also have filed to run for the seat. Democratic primary challenger Elijah Manley flew to Washington to observe the Thursday’s hearing.
“After last night’s hearing, it should be clear to everyone that the best action from the congresswoman is to resign from office immediately,” Manley said. “I am, like most of the district, extremely disappointed by the congresswoman. We had such high hopes for her.”
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