Bipartisan House Panel Finds Democratic Congresswoman Guilty of 25 Ethics Violations

A special House Ethics subcommittee on Friday declared indicted Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick guilty on 25 congressional ethics charges related to her alleged theft of $5 million in public funds.Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick faced a rare, hours-long public ethics hearing on Thursday into whether she had broken House rules. The congresswoman did not speak but was defended by her personal attorney, William Barzee, who was grilled by members of both parties about the allegations.Following the hearing, the House Ethics adjudicatory subcommittee moved into executive session. The closed-door deliberation continued into the early morning hours on Friday before members found, in a secret vote, that she had committed all but one of the violations she was accused of.“I look forward to proving my innocence,” Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick said in an emailed statement on Friday afternoon. “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.”Federal prosecutors are accusing the congresswoman of improperly taking Covid-era FEMA funds for herself, her family, and her campaign via a healthcare company owned by her parents. If convicted, Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice’s sentencing guidelines. She has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.The full Ethics Committee — made up equally of Democrats and Republicans — will hold a hearing after the House returns from the April recess to determine what, if any, sanction would be appropriate for the committee to recommend. At that point, the matter would go to the floor of the House for members to vote on either a censure resolution or an expulsion resolution, which would require a two-thirds majority in order to pass.Several fellow Democrats in Congress are calling for Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick to leave Congress immediately.“You can’t crime your way into legitimate power,” Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez said in an X post on Friday. “Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”“She has to consider her constituents and the House Democratic caucus, so I think she should probably step aside,” Congressman Jimmy Gomez told Axios.Other Democrats suggested that while Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick should resign, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales should also resign. He has admitted to an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

Bipartisan House Panel Finds Democratic Congresswoman Guilty of 25 Ethics Violations

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