A Florida Democrat is now a step closer to one of the most serious punishments Congress can dole out: expulsion. A bipartisan subcommittee of the House Ethics panel on Friday concluded that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was guilty of 25 of 27 ethics charges brought against her, reports Politico. The Ethics Committee will now determine what punishment to recommend—censure or expulsion looks likely—and that would go before the full House. The charges center around allegations that the three-term congresswoman illegally funneled COVID-era relief money mistakenly sent to her family's health care company into her campaigns, per the Washington Post.
Cherfilus-McCormick appeared on Thursday at a rare public hearing, and the vote followed early Friday. The subcommittee of four Republicans and four Democrats investigated allegations centering on $5 million in FEMA money that investigators say was inadvertently sent to her family's health-care company in 2021 and not returned. Instead, some of it was allegedly routed to friends and relatives who later donated to her campaign—transactions that prosecutors describe as illegal straw donations.
The Justice Department separately charged Cherfilus-McCormick, her brother, and her tax preparer in November, and the congresswoman faces decades in prison if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty and called the allegations without merit. A report in Axios suggests that Cherfilus-McCormick shouldn't expect fellow Democrats to rally to her defense, given the explosive nature of the allegations.
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