Claiming to be the victim of a “witch hunt,” U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat, announced her resignation four minutes before she was set to appear before the House Ethics Committee amid allegations of stealing disaster money.
“This was not a fair process,” the 47-year-old posted on social media. “I will not stand by and pretend that this has been anything other than a witch hunt.”
The third member of Congress in a week to resign over misconduct accusations, Cherfilus-McCormick insisted her due process rights were violated because the Ethics Committee refused to grant her attorney time to mount a defense.
Because of these “political games,” Cherfilus-McCormick said, she is stepping down from Florida’s 20th district.
She posted her resignation statement at 1:56 p.m., just before the House Ethics Committee’s 2 p.m. hearing to determine the best way to punish Cherfilus-McCormick over accusations she laundered $5 million in COVID-19 money through her campaign account.
Possible sanctions ranged from fines to suspension to expulsion — the latter of which was receiving growing support.
In March, a bipartisan House Ethics subcommittee declared Cherfilus-McCormick guilty on 25 of 27 ethics charges. This was the committee’s first public tribunal in nearly 16 years, and came four months after the Justice Department criminally indicted her for allegedly laundering up to $5 million of Federal Emergency Management Agency dollars.
Cherfilus-McCormick’s unceremonious exit follows those of Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales and California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell. Both resigned on April 14, and both faced ethics investigations for alleged sexual misconduct with staffers.
The Republican National Committee swiftly celebrated her departure, with spokesperson Emma Hall calling the former Congresswoman an “unashamed con artist who stole millions from Florida taxpayers and flaunted it.”
“Resigning in disgrace is the bare minimum after defrauding the American people, and every Democrat who ran out the clock to cover for her corruption should be ashamed. Congress is better off with her gone,” Hall said.
The accusations against Cherfilus-McCormick stem from a COVID vaccination contract her family’s health care company had with FEMA. The federal agency accidentally overpaid her company by $5 million, and Cherfilus-McCormick funneled that money through a series of accounts before it settled in her 2022 campaign fund, prosecutors allege.
She has said she’s not guilty of either the DOJ’s criminal charges or the ethics violations.
Other members potentially facing expulsion resolutions in the coming weeks include Florida Republican Rep. Cory Mills and South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace — both of whom are weighing attempts to get the other one tossed out of Congress.