Florida Democrat Found Guilty Of House Ethics Violations

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick illicitly funneled millions of dollars to her campaign and committed various campaign finance infractions, a bipartisan House Ethics subcommittee determined Friday — likely laying the groundwork for a vote by the full legislative body to expel the embattled Florida Democrat.

The panel's adjudicatory subcommittee, led by House Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.), deliberated well past midnight following an hours-long hearing that served as the panel’s first public “trial” in nearly 16 years. It found "clear and convincing" evidence that Cherfilus-McCormick was guilty of all but two of the 27 counts that had been brought against her.

“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,” Guest and the panel’s top Democrat, Mark DeSaulnier of California, said in a joint statement.

“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.”

The three-term lawmaker, who is also facing related criminal charges in her home state, did not vote Friday morning on the House floor.

House GOP leadership believes that they have the votes to expel Cherfilus-McCormick, should the panel recommend such a punishment. Her removal would require a two-thirds vote — meaning some Democrats would need to support that effort — as opposed to the simple majority vote required for much of the House’s business.

So Democrats will soon have to decide whether to stand with one of their members or accept the findings of the Ethics Committee and support whatever punishment it recommends. It’s possible the panel suggests the full House vote to expel the three-term lawmaker. But, if members opt for a more lenient penalty like a reprimand or a censure, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) says he’s prepared to force a vote on expulsion, anyway.

The last time the House voted to oust a colleague was with former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in 2023. He was ultimately sentenced to prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft only to have his sentence commuted by President Donald Trump.

House Democrats were largely silent Friday morning following the adjudicatory subcommittee’s announcement of its guilty verdict. Many said they still needed to read the findings and were otherwise unprepared to weigh in.

House Minority Whip Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while a senior member of the House Democratic leadership team, Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, said he “intends to review” the verdict then “issue a statement.”

“The Ethics Committee just confirmed that Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick broke the rules, and House Democrats are still saying nothing,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement Friday. “Their silence is a choice. Democrats can stand for accountability or keep protecting a proven ethics violator, but voters won’t forget it.”

But Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), who recently led a charge to force a vote on the floor to reprimand fellow Democratic Rep. Chuy García of Illinois for orchestrating his chief of staff’s ascension to succeed him in retirement, was unequivocal.

“You can’t crime your way into legitimate power,” the moderate lawmaker wrote in a post on X. “Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”

And Rep. Mark Takano of California, the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said a bipartisan recommendation from the Ethics Committee would be “pretty compelling.”

Elijah Manley, Cherfilus-McCormick’s primary opponent, in a statement Friday was unsurprisingly unsympathetic and eager for the incumbent to now step aside.

“At this juncture, the congresswoman was found guilty by a committee of her peers in the House of serious misconduct and must resign from Congress immediately,” said Manley, who traveled to Washington to sit in the front row during Thursday's hearing.

Cherfilus-McCormick and her attorney sat before the House Ethics adjudicatory subcommittee across more than six and a half hours Friday afternoon and evening, at which point members went into a closed session and deliberated until 2 a.m., according to a person granted anonymity to share details of the private process.

It was the first such public hearing, or “trial,” for a sitting member of the House since 2010, when the late Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) was facing a host of charges, including the improper solicitation of funds. He was ultimately found guilty on most of those charges, and the full House voted to censure him by a wide margin.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyer, William Barzee, repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings, arguing that he did not have enough time to mount a fair case for his client as he had just been hired to represent her. Barzee also maintained that a determination of guilt in the House Ethics case could taint the fairness of her federal criminal trial. Members of the Ethics Committee were unmoved.

Of the two counts on which the members did not find Cherfilus-McCormick guilty, one involved allegations that the lawmaker participated in the flow of money from a corporate entity called Petrogaz-Haiti to support her campaign. The Democrat’s lawyer, William Barzee, argued that the evidence was not sufficient to prove “money-laundering” by the required standard — a charge that involves financial dealings intended to hide the source or the receipt of the funds. The panel of lawmakers appeared to agree.

The other charge on which Cherflius-McCormick escaped culpability was related to accusations of “Lack of Candor and Diligence in [the] Ethics Investigation.”

Meredith Lee Hill and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.