A bipartisan panel of House lawmakers voted to kickstart a process that could lead to the expulsion of a congressional Democrat accused of laundering millions of disaster relief funds into her campaign account.
A
House Ethics investigative subcommittee approved a motion for summary judgment, effectively finding
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) guilty of nearly all alleged violations outlined by the committee earlier this year.
The guilty verdict came after a rare public ethics hearing on Thursday, the first since 2010, that lasted more than six hours as lawmakers from both parties grilled Cherfilus-McCormick’s counsel. The eight-member adjudicatory subcommittee, helmed by
Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), announced its decision in a written statement Friday morning.
"After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the SAV [statement of alleged violations] had been proven," committee leaders said in a statement.
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted by a Miami grand jury for allegedly stealing $5 million in
FEMA funds on Nov. 18, 2025, according to the Department of Justice. I would say that she is toast, but it almost feels like politicians often get away with most things short of murder. And let's face it, even Hillary Clinton is walking free.
The panel’s slew of charges against the congresswoman, who is facing a separate federal criminal indictment, ranged from using ineligible funds to finance her campaign to repeatedly filing false financial disclosure forms and seeking "special favors" with recipients of earmark funding requests.
The panel will meet after the Easter recess to determine its recommended punishment, which could be as severe as expulsion, a rare move that has been historically dominated by Democrats.
Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) has vowed to move forward with his resolution that would expel Cherfilus-McCormick regardless of the outcome.
Under House rules, two-thirds of lawmakers have to agree to expel a member, meaning Steube’s resolution would need the support of some Democrats, who rarely go against their own no matter what the evidence. [One has to wonder if this is done to protect themselves.]
House Democratic leadership so far has largely stood by Cherfilus-McCormick as is their wont, though some congressional Democrats are signaling their discomfort with the allegations against their indicted colleague.
"The allegations before us are extremely serious," Rep. Mark Desaulnier (D-CA) said at the start of the hearing Thursday. "They not only concern an individual member’s conduct, they also implicate the public’s confidence in the House’s integrity as an institution." We shall see if he is serious about his words.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who first won election to Congress in 2021, is accused of stealing more than $5 million in disaster relief funds that were improperly paid to her family’s healthcare company, among other criminal allegations. She and her siblings allegedly used the illicit funds to jumpstart her congressional campaign and for personal use, including the purchase of a humungous diamond ring that she appeared to have worn in her official congressional portrait.
Cherfilus-McCormick has pleaded not guilty to the stunning federal charges brought in 2025. If convicted in federal court, Cherfilus-McCormick, 47, faces up to 53 years in prison, which I suspect is as unlikely as getting struck by lightning on a clear day at noon inside of Grand Central Station.
The House ethics panel’s investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick preceded the 2025 federal criminal indictment by more than two years. During that time, she had shifted between four different attorneys while largely refusing to cooperate with the bipartisan panel.
On Thursday, Cherfilus-McCormick sought to use the fact of her new legal representation to further delay the committee’s proceedings until June, a request the eight-member panel promptly denied in a closed-door session. Her new attorney,
William Barzee, repeatedly claimed a violation of Cherfilus-McCormick’s due process rights while maintaining her innocence, which is something he gets paid to say.
"For you to sit here and make the claim that we, the committee, is trying to trample upon the rights of your client. I take offense to that," Guest told Barzee in a combative exchange. "For two years we've tried to get documents from your client. Not only have we requested documents, but we have subpoenaed those documents. Those documents were not provided for two years.
"I'm personally offended because I know the work that this committee goes to protect all members and to make sure that we go above and beyond," Guest continued.
Members of both parties appeared unconvinced by Barzee’s argument, attempting to claim that Cherfilus-McCormick was entitled to the millions of dollars she accepted from her family’s company that stemmed from the FEMA overpayments. In what universe does that make sense?
When Barzee claimed that an undated chart was evidence of a "profit-sharing agreement" showing her legal title to the money, the bipartisan panel appeared visibly pissed off.
"I did a lot of business transaction law for a number of years before I came to Congress. I drafted a lot of profit-sharing agreements. Never saw one that was just a chart that was unsigned," Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), told Barzee.
Later in the hearing, Barzee argued that because Cherfilus-McCormick is of Haitian descent, it was not atypical to have a "handshake agreement" to divvy up millions of dollars between her and her family instead of a formal legal document.
Cherfilus-McCormick faces an upcoming federal criminal trial this summer. Just don't hold your breath to see justice served in her case. I hope I'm wrong, and I would say exactly the same thing had it been a Republican miscreant.
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