Bipartisan panel cites misuse of federal disaster relief funds for 2021 campaign; full committee to review findings after recess
A bipartisan adjudicatory subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee has determined that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20) violated House rules in 25 of the 27 allegations brought against her.
The ruling, announced following a rare, nearly seven-hour public hearing on March 27–28 — the first open proceeding of its kind in almost 15 years — centers on allegations that the congresswoman misused millions in improperly disbursed federal disaster relief funds (related to COVID-19/FEMA overpayments to her family’s health care business, Trinity Health Care Services) to help fund her successful 2021 special election campaign.
Specific violations include commingling of campaign, personal, and business funds; violations of campaign finance laws and House rules; failure to uphold U.S. laws and regulations; and lack of candor during the investigation. The panel did not sustain two counts, including one alleging political assistance from an organization tied to her adviser and husband that received funding from the Haitian government.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who became the first Haitian-American elected to Congress from Florida, has strongly denied all wrongdoing. In a statement following the findings, she said:
“I look forward to proving my innocence. 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.”
Her attorney criticized the timing and public nature of the hearing, arguing that it could prejudice her upcoming federal criminal trial (in which she faces charges including conspiracy to steal approximately $5 million in FEMA funds, money laundering, campaign finance violations, and false tax returns). She has pleaded not guilty in that case and declined to testify before the Ethics panel, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The full House Ethics Committee will now consider the subcommittee’s findings after the April congressional recess and recommend potential sanctions, which could range from censure or reprimand to a recommendation for expulsion from the House.
L’Union Suite will continue to follow both the Ethics Committee proceedings and the separate federal criminal case against Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick.
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