Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick announced she would resign from Congress, marking the third lawmaker to step down from office over the last week due to alleged ethics violations.
Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation became official on Tuesday afternoon, just moments before she was scheduled to appear before the House Ethics Committee to determine a punishment — a rare public proceeding for the bipartisan panel. The Florida Democrat did not concede to the allegations in her statement, but instead claimed she was a victim of an unfair process because the committee declined a request to delay her trial.
“I will not stand by and pretend that this has been anything other than a witch hunt,” she said. “I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished.”
Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation comes months after she was indicted on federal charges over allegations she illegally stole $5 million in FEMA overpayments from her company and transferred it to her congressional campaign account. If convicted, she could spend up to 53 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.
The House Ethics Committee later found her guilty of more than two dozen ethics violations in its separate investigation, resulting in a number of lawmakers calling on her to resign or be expelled.
Cherfilus-McCormick has been under review by the Ethics Committee for a number of allegations, such as violating campaign finance laws; failing to properly disclose required information; accepting official work from an unemployed individual; engaging in improper conduct in relation to project funding requests; and misusing official funds for campaign purposes.
The two-term congresswoman was also federally indicted late last year over allegations she illegally stole $5 million in FEMA overpayments from her company and transferred it to her congressional campaign account. If convicted, she could spend up to 53 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.
The indictment alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick’s family health care company received the overpayment in 2021 through a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract. She and her brother then took that money and routed it through multiple accounts to “disguise its source” before depositing it to her campaign, the indictment states.
One way that was achieved, the indictment alleges, is that the funds were given to friends and relatives, who then donated the money to her campaign “as if using their own money.”
Cherfilus-McCormick has denied any wrongdoing.
Her resignation comes after a pair of lawmakers similarly left office last week for alleged ethics violations. However, those lawmakers — former Reps. Eric Swalwell of California and Tony Gonzales of Texas — resigned over sexual harassment allegations.