Miramar congresswoman guilty of 25 violations, ethics panel says. What happens now?
Rejecting claims that Miramar congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was independently wealthy and used her own money to finance her congressional run, a bipartisan House Ethics Committee on Friday found that the Florida Democrat committed 25 violations of House rules and ethics standards.
After a rare and at times contentious public hearing, the special Ethics subcommittee concluded on March 27 that Cherfilus-McCormick violated House rules following a three-year investigation into millions of dollars that flowed through her family’s Miramar-based health care company, Trinity Healthcare Services, to her and relatives and then into her political campaign.
The ruling came after a nearly seven-hour televised hearing Thursday, during which Cherfilus-McCormick and her attorney appeared before the bipartisan panel. Lawmakers then deliberated for hours overnight before issuing their decision Friday.
The Ethics Committee said it will hold another hearing after the House returns from its two-week spring recess to determine possible sanctions, which could include censure, removal from committees or expulsion from Congress.
The investigation centers on roughly $5 million in FEMA COVID-19 disaster relief funds erroneously given to Trinity, where Cherfilus-McCormick worked as an $86,000-a-year CEO. An additional $9 million was legally given to the company by the state for pandemic work.
According to investigators, the $5 million was never repaid and instead moved through a web of accounts and businesses linked to Cherfilus-McCormick. Some of that money, investigators allege, was laundered and helped bankroll Cherfilus-McCormick’s successful 2022 special election campaign, which made her the first Haitian-American elected to Congress from Florida.
During the ethics hearing, committee staff presented what they described as extensive evidence that Cherfilus-McCormick violated House rules and ethical standards, detailing a pattern of financial transfers in which money moved in and out of campaign accounts before or just after reporting deadlines.
Investigators said the transactions raised questions about whether funds tied to Trinity Healthcare helped sustain her campaign.
In November, federal prosecutors indicted Cherfilus-McCormick and three others, including her brother and chief of staff, accusing them of misappropriating the FEMA funds.
Cherfilus-McCormick has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to related federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing and laundering the $5 million. He trial is scheduled for April.
“I look forward to proving my innocence,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a statement. “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.”
Her new attorney, Miami lawyer William Barzee, sharply challenged the ethics panel’s case that the money is question was mischaracterized as “tainted,” saying it was part of a family profit-sharing program.
Barzee mounted a spirited defense and asked the committee to pause the proceedings or allow a full evidentiary hearing so the congresswoman could defend herself.
“Most respectfully, the idea of a summary judgment here is inappropriate,” Barzee told the committee. “We do not accept the facts as they are alleged by staff. There are material facts in dispute. ... Let me call some witnesses.”
Barzee said there was nothing “nefarious” about how Cherfilus-McCormick made her money.
“She received the money from Trinity as part of a profit sharing she was entitled to. ... If she wants to put her own money into her own campaign, she can do so.”
Cherfilus-McCormick is also accused of accepting $810,000 from the Haitian government through a Fort Lauderdale-based firm, another allegation that investigators have examined as part of the broader case.
The ethics finding could endanger Cherfilus-McCormick’s political future in Washington.
Before the hearing, Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida threatened to force a vote on expelling the congresswoman from the House.
Following Friday’s decision, some Democrats also began calling on her to step down. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York declined to say Friday whether Cherfilus-McCormick should remain in Congress.
There is precedent for lawmakers being expelled before a criminal conviction. In 2023, the House voted 311–114 to expel Rep. George Santos of New York, the first modern case of a member being removed before a federal trial concluded.
