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<\/a><\/p>\nDemocratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigned on Tuesday before the House could sanction her in an ethics investigation.<\/p>\n
Members of the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday were set to weigh what punishment to recommend after they found she committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards, including breaking campaign finance laws.<\/p>\n
“This was not a fair process,” she said in a statement, adding that the committee denied her adequate time to prepare a defense.<\/p>\n
Republicans had already called for the expulsion of Cherfilus-McCormick, who is in her third term and is running for reelection in a southeastern Florida district. She is also facing federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in coronavirus disaster relief funds and using the money to buy items such as a 3-carat yellow diamond ring.<\/p>\n
Cherfilus-McCormick has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and says she is not guilty of ethics violations, either.<\/p>\n
The allegations against the congresswoman center on how she received millions of dollars from her family’s health care business after Florida mistakenly overpaid the business by roughly $5 million with COVID-19 disaster relief funds. She is accused of using that money to fund her 2022 congressional campaign through a network of businesses and family members.<\/p>\n
Cherfilus-McCormick declined to testify during a previous Ethics Committee hearing, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her attorney, William Barzee, sparred with some of the lawmakers and argued that they should have allowed a thorough ethics trial, at which he could present witnesses and evidence to counter the conclusions of House investigators.<\/p>\n
Moments after Cherfilus-McCormick submitted her resignation, House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest, R-Miss., said the committee no longer had jurisdiction to conduct the hearing.<\/p>\n
He thanked the committee\u2019s staff for \u201c2\u00bd years of hard work in this matter,\u201d adding that they had spoken to multiple witnesses and gathered and reviewed tens of thousands of documents.<\/p>\n
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