Indicted Miramar congresswoman faces ethics panel hearing. Expulsion vote next?
A rare public hearing of the House Ethics Committee will examine fraud allegations against Miramar U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, placing the South Florida Democrat’s case under national scrutiny for the first time since her federal indictment in Miami.
The hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, and will be conducted by the panel’s adjudicatory subcommittee.
It will publicly review accusations that Cherfilus-McCormick and others diverted $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency COVID-19 disaster relief funds through a Miramar health care company tied to her family.
Due to a clerical error, FEMA had mistakenly overpaid millions to the health care company.
The outcome of Thursday’s hearing could determine whether the panel recommends sanctions, censure or possible expulsion proceedings against Cherfilus-McCormick, who lives and works in Miramar.
Prosecutors allege some of the money received erroneously was used to enrich those involved and to help finance Cherfilus-McCormick’s successful 2021 campaign for Congress.
Cherfilus-McCormick denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier this year. She has also criticized the Ethics Committee for refusing to delay the hearing, saying the decision did not give her legal team adequate time to prepare.
“I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight and challenge these inaccuracies when I am legally able to do so,” she said in a statement.
The House Ethics Committee seldom holds public hearings involving sitting members of Congress.
The last time the panel did so was in 2010 in the personal finances case of former Rep. Charles Rangel, a longtime Democrat from New York who for decades represented Harlem. Rangel was later censured by the House.
Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted in November along with three others, including her brother, on charges related to the alleged misuse of FEMA funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The indictment alleges that some of the funds helped support her campaign for Florida’s 20th Congressional District seat. Cherfilus-McCormick is up for reelelction in November and has attracted at least two serious opponents.
If convicted on all counts, she could face significant prison time.
Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida has introduced a resolution seeking to expel Cherfilus-McCormick from Congress.
Steube said he intends to push for a vote on the measure once the Ethics Committee completes its review and issues a recommendation to the full House.
The Ethics Committee is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, meaning any recommendation for disciplinary action would require support from members of both parties.
