Florida Democrats Condemn ‘Corruption’ After Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick Resigns

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The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) issued a statement after Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) resigned from Congress, calling out the “corruption” that led to her exit but also taking a swipe at a scandal-plagued Republican.

Last month, the House Ethics Committee found that Cherfilus-McCormick was guilty of 25 out of 27 counts of embezzling funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that were intended for Covid-19 vaccination programs. She had been accused of improperly funneling $5 million through a health care company she and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, ran, using the money for her personal use and for her congressional campaign.

The siblings were indicted by the Department of Justice in November for their scheme. Cherfilus-McCormick was charged with fifteen charges including theft, money laundering, illegal campaign contributions, and filing a false tax return. She faces up to 53 years in prison, according to a DOJ press release.

Cherfilus-McCormick has denied wrongdoing, pleading not guilty to the federal charges against her and maintaining that the House Ethics Committee’s hearing was “not a fair process” and a “witch hunt.” Nonetheless, she announced Tuesday that she was resigning from Congress. Had she not resigned, multiple members had been calling for an expulsion vote.

Less than half an hour after Cherfilus-McCormick posted her resignation on social media, the FDP emailed a statement to Mediaite from Chair Nikki Fried, noting that the congresswoman had just “resigned from the House of Representatives after being indicted on fraud charges involving the misuse of COVID-19 funds.”

“Corruption has no place in Congress,” Fried continued, before calling for Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) to be next:

Now it’s Cory Mills’ turn to resign. Congressman Mills has been accused of stolen valor, threatening to sexually violate a former partner, and abandoning a rescue mission in Afghanistan to meet with sex workers so frequently his own travel party left him behind. He faces an Ethics complaint for fraudulent use of campaign funds, leveraging committee assignments for personal gain, and has been the subject of three bipartisan censure resolutions.

Members of both parties have both called for Cory Mills to be expelled – that says it all. He has spent more time fighting substantiated allegations of abuse than fighting for Floridians. Enough is enough.

Mills, a 45-year-old Army veteran who has co-founded several security and defense contracting companies, has found his name in a slew of negative headlines ranging from multiple on-the-record stolen valor accusations from soldiers who served with him in combat, a House Ethics Committee investigation into his business dealings and financial disclosures, a report he was being evicted from his D.C. penthouse apartment after his landlord accused him of owing $85,000, an accusation from 27-year-old Sarah Raviani that he had assaulted her at that D.C. apartment, accusations he was caught with sex workers during a 2021 rescue mission to help evacuate Americans from Afghanistan, and a restraining order that was issued to another ex-girlfriend, former Miss United States and Florida GOP state committeewoman Lindsey Langston.

Langston, who said in court filings she broke up with Mills after news reports revealed to her his overlapping relationship with Raviani, accused him of continuing to aggressively pursue and harass her for months after she dumped him, ignoring her repeated rejections and requests to leave her alone, sending threatening messages that “intensified over time,” and included “emotional manipulation,” “physical violence against whoever I date in the future,” and threats to release nude images and sexually explicit videos of her, which would violate the Miss United States pageant’s code of conduct and jeopardize her crown.

Mills has also denied wrongdoing.

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