A House Ethics subcommittee found “substantial evidence” to support the allegations made against Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in a federal fraud indictment filed last year, as well as a host of misconduct violations made by the congresswoman.
The investigative subcommittee met a dozen times since forming in July, ultimately issuing 59 subpoenas, conducting 28 witness interviews and reviewing more than 33,000 documents, it said in a press release Thursday.
Cherfilus-McCormick was the subject of a federal indictment in November that accused her of using a $5 million overpayment of federal emergency grant money to help fund her 2021 congressional campaign. She faces up to 53 years in prison.
The House Ethics Committee nearly one year ago conducted an initial investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick’s improper use of campaign funds, determining “substantial reason to believe” Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign committee “accepted and failed to report contributions exceeding contribution limits” and “failed to report transactions between the campaign committee” and the lawmaker’s businesses.
Following the federal indictment late last year, House Democratic leadership temporarily stripped Cherfilus-McCormick of her committee assignment as ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa and voted to refer calls for her expulsion to a House Ethics Committee for further review.
The Florida Democrat cooperated with initial stages of the latest investigation, a report released on Thursday states, but invoked her Fifth Amendment right when the investigative subcommittee subpoenaed her testimony and missing documents.
The investigative subcommittee, led by Rep. Andrew Garbarino, released a statement Thursday of alleged violations that “has revealed substantial evidence of conduct consistent with the allegations in the indictment, as well as more extensive misconduct,” the 59-page ruling stated.
The subcommittee brought six misconduct charges against the congresswoman, including violating campaign finance regulations, laundering government funds, filing misleading financial documents, and conflating personal and campaign funds.
In a response filing, Cherfilus-McCormick’s legal representative requested the committee pause its investigation while the criminal case plays out, a request commonly honored by the House Ethics Committee.
“Representative Cherfilus-McCormick disputes and refutes the allegations and report of the Ethics Committee’s Investigative Subcommittee,” her attorney, Michael Stroud, wrote to the panel.
The ethics committee is scheduled to host its first hearing in the investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick on March 5.
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