Congress Ethics Cherfilus-McCormick

The House Ethics Committee is holding a rare public hearing into alleged ethics violations by Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. By the end of the six hour hearing Thursday night, lawmakers on the panel of four Republicans and four Democrats expressed heavy skepticism at the arguments that Cherfilus-McCormick’s attorney presented. The third-term congresswoman is facing numerous ethics charges, including failing to follow campaign finance laws, commingling campaign, personal and business funds and violating ethics laws for members of Congress. She's also facing federal charges for allegedly stealing $5 million in COVID-19 disaster relief funds. She denies any wrongdoing.

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida is maintaining her innocence following the House Ethics Committee’s finding that the Democratic congresswoman committed numerous violations of House rules and ethics standards. It’s a ruling that could add weight to Republicans’ push to expel Cherfilus-McCormick from Congress. After meeting into early Friday morning, an ethics panel of four Democrats and four Republicans found Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 ethics violations. The panel says it will recommend a punishment in the coming weeks. The allegations center on Cherfilus-McCormick’s receipt of millions of dollars from her family’s health care business following Florida’s overpayment of roughly $5 million in disaster relief funds. The congresswoman has denied wrongdoing.

Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has resigned, doing so just moments before the start of a hearing that could have led to a recommendation that she be expelled from Congress. Cherfilus-McCormick says she would not pretend that a yearslong ethics investigation had been anything other than a “witch hunt,” and rather than play political games she would resign. The committee had been set to weigh what punishment to recommend after an investigative panel found Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards. Cherfilus-McCormick also faces federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in coronavirus disaster relief funds. She denies any wrongdoing.