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Washington — The House Ethics Committee on Thursday will hold a rare public “trial” for Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, who is accused of stealing $5 million in federal pandemic funds and using some of the money to boost her congressional campaign.
Republicans are already trying to expel Cherfilus-McCormick from Congress over the allegations. Based on the outcome of the hearing, the Ethics Committee could recommend expulsion, which could prompt Democrats to support removing her.
In January, the bipartisan committee released the findings of its lengthy investigation into the alleged campaign finance scheme. The report shed new light on the Florida Democrat’s efforts to bolster her congressional campaign after two unsuccessful bids in 2018 and 2020.
Cherfilus-McCormick was elected to Congress in 2022 in a special election in South Florida’s 20th Congressional District, replacing Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings, who died the previous year. She was indicted in November on federal charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Thursday’s hearing, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., will be conducted by an adjudicatory subcommittee, composed of four Republicans and four Democrats, who will determine whether the allegations “have been proved by clear and convincing evidence” and “make findings of fact.” The members of the subcommittee were not part of the investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick.
According to House rules, adjudicatory subcommittee hearings are held in public, unless the panel votes otherwise. They can include opening statements, sworn witness testimony and the presentation of other evidence.
On Wednesday, the committee said it would begin Thursday’s hearing by reconsidering Cherfilus-McCormick’s request to hold the hearing behind closed doors.
In a statement to CBS News, Cherfilus-McCormick said she was “deeply disappointed” the committee moved forward with the hearing. Cherfilus-McCormick said she was innocent and was “limited” in what she could address because of the federal case.
“I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight and challenge these inaccuracies, when I am legally able to do so,” she said.
What the federal indictment says
The federal charges against Cherfilus-McCormick are related to a massive overpayment to a company, Trinity Healthcare Services, owned by the congresswoman’s family. The company had a FEMA-funded contract to register people for COVID vaccines.
In July 2021, a Florida state agency mistakenly deposited the $5 million overpayment in the company’s bank account, according to the indictment. But instead of returning the overpayment, Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother moved the funds to several other bank accounts “to disguise its source,” the Justice Department said.
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In the subsequent months, more than $1.1 million was transferred to accounts connected to her congressional campaign, the indictment said. Cherfilus-McCormick and a campaign staffer allegedly funneled some of the funds to friends and relatives, who donated it back to her campaign disguised as their own personal contributions. Such contributions, known as straw donations, are illegal.
Prosecutors alleged the congresswoman bought herself a 3.14-carat yellow diamond ring. She is also accused of falsely inflating business expenses and charitable contributions to reduce her tax liability.
Cherfilus-McCormick is charged with 15 counts, including theft of government funds, money laundering, making and receiving straw donor contributions, and aiding and assisting the preparation of a false and fraudulent statement on a tax return.
She faces a maximum of 53 years in prison if convicted of all the charges.
“This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment — and I am innocent,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a Nov. 20 statement.
What the House Ethics Committee report says
In a 59-page report released in January, the House Ethics Committee concluded there was “substantial reason to believe” Cherfilus-McCormick violated multiple federal laws and House rules. The committee said it reviewed over 33,000 documents, interviewed 28 witnesses and issued 59 subpoenas as part of its lengthy investigation into the congresswoman’s alleged misconduct.
The investigation found “substantial evidence of conduct consistent with the allegations in the indictment, as well as more extensive misconduct,” according to the report.
The report says Cherfilus-McCormick’s company received nearly $5.8 million in overpaid funds throughout 2021. The largest was the $5 million overpayment in July 2021 referenced in the indictment.
Investigators laid out a pattern of inaccurate and incomplete campaign finance reports across several election cycles, including improper contributions falsely reported as personal loans, acceptance of improper contributions and inflated cash-on-hand numbers.
The report alleged the timing of “nearly every substantial transaction” to the campaign closely aligned with transfers from Cherfilus-McCormick’s health care company. Investigators said that at least $3.6 million of the FEMA-linked funds made its way to Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign “for at least some period of time.” They also said they provided Trinity and Cherfilus-McCormick “with numerous chances to explain whether those were funds respondent had a legal right to, but neither party provided any such explanation.”
In addition to bolstering her congressional campaign, Cherfilus-McCormick also allegedly spent the overpaid funds on luxury personal items, including jewelry from Tiffany & Co., a Tesla, designer clothing, high-end hotels and a cruise, according to the report.
Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign is also accused of accepting more than $800,000 from a Haitian oil company in 2022, after she was first elected to Congress. The contributions were funneled to the campaign through shell companies set up by the congresswoman’s closest advisers and husband, according to the report, which said the funds “constitute an impermissible corporate contribution.”
Investigators also detailed Cherfilus-McCormick’s alleged special favors for a friend and campaign fundraiser who had made federal funding requests for community projects.
The Florida Democrat initially cooperated with the Ethics Committee’s investigation, but eventually invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination after the committee issued a subpoena for documents she had not provided and for her testimony.
In response to the committee’s findings, a lawyer for Cherfilus-McCormick said the congresswoman “disputes and refutes the allegations and report.”
The committee denied Cherfilus-McCormick’s request to postpone all proceedings until her criminal case is resolved.
Effort to expel Cherfilus-McCormick from Congress
Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida is leading an effort to expel Cherfilus-McCormick from Congress over the allegations.
After Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted in November, Steube initially said he would seek to reprimand her through a censure resolution, which is largely symbolic because it lacks any tangible consequences. Steube quickly changed course and said he would pursue expulsion, arguing she should be “swiftly removed from the House before she can inflict any more harm on Congress, her district, and the State of Florida.”
Steube threatened to force a vote on her expulsion if Cherfilus-McCormick refused to resign, but he has held off as the Ethics Committee process plays out.
Expelling a member of the House requires a two-thirds vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters Thursday that the allegations are a “very serious matter” and a “harsh penalty” would be warranted if lawmakers determine she “egregiously violated the law.” He called expulsion “the political death penalty” and said “it’s a decision of the body to determine that.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said in a November statement that Cherfilus-McCormick is “entitled to her day in court and the presumption of innocence.”
Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, who leads the House Democratic Caucus, said Wednesday that he’s waiting for the outcome of the Ethics Committee’s hearing and the criminal trial to come to any conclusions about Cherfilus-McCormick’s future in the House.
“After the conclusion of those, we will see what happens and we’ll have conversations with our colleagues on what it looks like,” he said. “But I’m not going to prejudge what it looks like ahead of time.”
