The ruling comes just weeks before Cherfilus-McCormick is scheduled to face criminal trial on money laundering allegations
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D., Fla.) committed 25 violations of House ethics rules for her role in an alleged scheme to use millions of stolen taxpayer dollars to win her 2021 political campaign, a bipartisan House Ethics panel ruled in a vote that could lead to the Democrat’s expulsion from Congress.
An adjudicatory subcommittee comprised of four Republicans and four Democrats issued the ruling early Friday morning after a lengthy hearing on Thursday that Cherfilus-McCormick’s attorney, William Barzee, sought to delay until the conclusion of the Florida Democrat’s criminal trial on the same allegations, which is currently scheduled to take place April 20 but is likely to be delayed until the summer or fall. Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison for her role in the scheme, which centered on her family-owned health care company’s receipt of $5 million from a FEMA-funded COVID-19 contract in 2021 for work it had not performed. Instead of returning the funds, Cherfilus-McCormick and members of her family allegedly laundered the funds into her ostensibly self-funded political campaign for an election she won by just five votes, with leftover funds used for purchases, including the three-carat yellow diamond ring Cherfilus-McCormick once featured in her congressional portrait.
Barzee, who boasts on his website of having represented clients accused of defrauding the United States of millions of dollars and others that stood accused of importing “tens of thousands of kilos of cocaine” into the country, took over as Cherfilus-McCormick’s attorney less than three weeks ago. Her prior lawyer withdrew from the case in early March. Barzee urged the committee to delay for at least a few more weeks to give him more time to get up to speed on the case. But the committee denied his request, noting that Cherfilus-McCormick had consistently stonewalled investigators throughout their two-year investigation and that they would no longer entertain any more requests to delay the inevitable.
The ethics committee will hold a full hearing to recommend how to sanction Cherfilus-McCormick for her 25 ethics violations. Expulsion from Congress is likely on the table for the Florida Democrat. Following that hearing, the matter will be brought before the House. Should Cherfilus-McCormick be expelled, it would give a much-needed edge to House Republicans, who have governed with a razor-thin majority this Congress.
A vote to expel Cherfilus-McCormick could put House Democrats in a tough position after the caucus moved aggressively in 2023 to remove former Rep. George Santos (R., N.Y.) before the ethics process was completed in his case. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) said in February he was a “hard no” on voting to expel Cherfilus-McCormick, but several rank-and-file members have suggested they’d vote to remove their colleague in order to avoid charges of hypocrisy.
“You can’t crime your way into legitimate power,” said Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D., Wa.) after the committee issued its ruling Friday. “Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”
But losing her job may be the least of her worries. Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted in November and faces up to 53 years in prison for her role in the same scheme. Immediately following her indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick professed her innocence, slammed the charges as “unjust” and “baseless,” insinuating that the timing of their filing was “curious and clearly meant to distract from far more pressing national issues.”
But her actions behind the scenes suggest Cherfilus-McCormick feels the walls are closing in on her, with the Florida Democrat reportedly seeking a presidential pardon during the White House Christmas party last year, according to the Hill.
The ethics hearing Thursday was the committee’s first open hearing since 2010, when it found the late Rep. Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.) guilty on 11 of 13 charges of having violated ethics rules amid a probe into his personal finances. The House later voted to censure Rangel, allowing him to continue to serve in Congress until he retired in 2017.