House Ethics Committee Finds Florida Lawmaker Guilty of Stealing $5M in Relief Funds

(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

The House Ethics Committee has ruled that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) improperly funneled more than $5 million in federal disaster funds for personal use, including financing her campaign.

An eight-member bipartisan subcommittee found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty early Friday morning on 25 out of 27 counts of embezzling the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The decision followed a rare public hearing on Thursday. According to The New York Times, it marked the first time in 16 years that the panel held a public hearing regarding a sitting lawmaker.

The last time was in 2010 when the Ethics Committee found Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) guilty of 11 violations.

“Shortly after the House returns from the April recess, the full Committee will hold a hearing to determine what, if any, sanction would be appropriate for the Committee to recommend,” said Ethics Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) in a joint statement.

DeSaulnier said the yearslong investigation “included interviews with 23 witnesses and a review of hundreds of thousands of pages of documents,” the Times reported.

“The allegations before us are extremely serious,” DeSaulnier said. “They also implicate the public’s confidence in the House’s integrity as an institution.”

“The expectation among many members is that Cherfilus-McCormick, if she does not resign, will face a vote to expel her from the House,” The Hill Reported.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) said this week he is preparing a resolution to expel Cherfilus-McCormick as soon as the Ethics panel completes its formal process. Expelling a member of Congress takes a two-thirds majority vote.

In addition to the Ethics panel’s investigation, the Justice Department charged Cherfilus-McCormick and three others, including her brother, in November with stealing the FEMA funds.

The panel “typically defers to law enforcement on penalties, issuing fines or rebukes and only rarely recommending that a lawmaker be removed from office,” the Times said.

If convicted on criminal charges, Cherfilus-McCormick could face up to 53 years in prison.

Cherfilus-McCormick has denied any wrongdoing, however, she reportedly approached President Donald Trump last year seeking clemency, according to The Hill.

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