Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick appears before House Ethics for rare public hearing

By Camila DeChalus, CNN

(CNN) — Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick appeared before the House Ethics Committee on Thursday in a rare public hearing to face allegations she stole millions in federal disaster funds and used it to bolster her 2021 campaign.

The “trial” places renewed attention on how Congress polices its own members, and increases pressure on Democrats, who have before seized on the high-profile indictments and ethics proceedings of their Republican colleagues — including pushing to expel then-Rep. George Santos – as they look to win back power in Washington. While separate from criminal proceedings underway against Cherfilus-McCormick, the hearing could ultimately determine what, if any, punishment she may face from her fellow lawmakers.

“The allegations before us are extremely serious. They not only concern an individual member’s conduct, they also implicate the public’s confidence in the house’s integrity as an institution,” said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of California, the top Democrat on the committee, acknowledging the severity of the allegations against the Florida congresswoman.

“Today at a time when public confidence in our institution is so low, this committee’s role in enforcing congressional ethics process and defending the integrity the house could not be more important,” he continued.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s legal counsel argued during the public portion of the proceeding that the panel should pause its investigation amid an ongoing federal case, arguing it could risk violating “her constitutional rights to a fair trial.”

“How can she possibly go into court and have a fair trial if her jurors have already heard that she was found guilty by the House of Representative? It’s an impossibility,” attorney William Barzee told lawmakers.

But some lawmakers pushed back.

“We’re not in a court of law. We’re not dealing in a criminal matter. We are a body that’s unique unto itself. We’re dealing with rules. We’re not dealing with any type of criminal adjudication, I want to just push back on that a little bit that we are not violating her constitutional rights,” Republican Rep. Brad Knott of North Carolina said.

In November, the Justice Department indicted Cherfilus-McCormick on charges, with prosecutors accusing her of stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency overpayments that her family health care company had received through a federally funded Covid-19 vaccination staffing contract. Prosecutors allege that some of those funds were then used to benefit her campaign through candidate contributions.

The congresswoman, who is serving her second full term in office, pleaded not guilty to those charges last month.

At the time of the indictment, Attorney General Pam Bondi called the alleged conduct “a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” saying that “no one is above the law.”

In a previously issued report, the Office of Congressional Ethics found that Cherfilus-McCormick’s income in 2021 was more than $6 million higher than in 2020, driven by nearly $5.75 million in consulting and profit-sharing fees received for work for Trinity Healthcare Services. The House Ethics Committee voted unanimously in July to reauthorize an investigative subcommittee for the 119th Congress to examine allegations involving the congresswoman.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the allegations against Cherfilus-McCormick “a very serious matter,” but noted the internal process must play out.

“Expulsion, obviously, is effectively the political death penalty. There are occasions that that meet that standard, but it’s a decision of the body to determine that. So, you look at all the factors, and you figure that out, we’ll be doing that here,” the Republican leader said. “In this case, it seems that this member of Congress has egregiously violated the law and exploited taxpayers and all the rest, and that that would be, it would be a harsh penalty necessary for that. It’s true. It’ll be a decision of the body.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar told reporters, “We’ll see what happens,” when asked whether Democrats would be willing to accept the congresswoman’s removal from the House if the committee were to recommend it.

“We believe that Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick has an opportunity to defend herself both from the allegations here under the dome as well as those in a courtroom,” he said Wednesday.

And asked earlier this week whether the party would oppose expulsion, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters: “Next question.”

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CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and Aileen Graef and The Associated Press contributed to this report.