WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Florida Democrat who is facing decades in prison for stealing over $5 million in disaster relief funds to finance her inaugural House campaign in 2021 and to purchase luxury items was set to face off against the House Ethics Committee on Thursday. Law Enforcement Today previously reported on the thief, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s fraud. So brazen was Cherfilus-McCormick that she attempted to scrub a picture she had taken for her official House website portrait, where she was sporting a $109,000 Tiffany diamond ring.
Fox News Digital reported that Cherfilus-McCormick was expected to testify before the Ethics Committee during a “rare public hearing” as part of an ethics probe that could lead to her expulsion from the House of Representatives.
Aside from the $5 million disaster relief scheme, Cherfilus-McCormick is alleged to have participated in a straw donor scheme and conspired to file a false federal tax return.
In other words, rules for thee, but not for me.
The embattled congresswoman has repeatedly attempted to delay the hearing, citing the ongoing criminal case. She also lost her legal representation earlier this month. Fox News said it wasn’t certain whether she would be represented by an attorney at the hearing.
The expulsion hearing will be a test of whether or not Democrats believe their own B.S. Back when former Republican Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was facing ethics charges in 2023, Democrats were clamoring for his expulsion, a wish they ultimately got. For now, however, “Dime Store Obama” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is taking a hands-off approach, according to Politico.
Jeffries said that Cherfilus-McCormick is “entitled to her day in court and the presumption of innocence,” while Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, a California Democrat, told reporters he wouldn’t “prejudge any outcome” of the Ethics Committee proceedings.
However, after Democrats lost their minds demanding Santos’ ouster in 2023, and with Cherfilus-McCormick facing much more serious allegations, Republicans will be anxious to see if they are as mortified by fraud by a Democrat as they were of a Republican. When Santos was expelled from Congress, numerous Republicans supported the move.
“If they give us conclusions that this actually happened, and there’s no question of doubt as to the fact that laws were broken, then our colleague will have to face the consequences of that–it’s plain and simple,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) in an interview.
“You lose your credibility if you’re applying a different set of laws and a different standard to people of the other party,” Lynch said. “I mean, how could we ever justify anything we do if we only apply that to Republicans, and we don’t follow the law?”
While Republicans have held their members accountable, Democrats tend to circle the wagons when one of their own stands accused of fraud or criminal activity. Examples include Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), arrested in a bribery scheme and pardoned by President Trump. Democrats restored him to his position as the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee.
Most Democrats ignored it when former Rep. Chuy Garcia of Illinois “boxed out other potential successors” and elevated his chief of staff to succeed him. They also looked the other way when Del. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands avoided a Republican-led censure attempt when she texted convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a House Oversight Committee hearing.
During Thursday’s hearing, Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyer argued that any House investigation should be paused pending the outcome of her criminal case, according to CNN.
“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 Representatives? It’s an impossibility,” Attorney William Barzee told lawmakers.
Now he knows how January 6 defendants probably felt, since they were crucified by far-left prosecutors in Washington, DC.
Some lawmakers, however, pushed back on Barzee’s statement.
“We’re not in a court of law here. We’re not dealing with 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,” Rep. Brad Knott (R-NC) said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the allegations against Cherfilus-McCormick are “a very serious matter,” but the internal process needed to play out.
“Expulsion, obviously, is effectively the death penalty. There are occasions 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,” Johnson 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 would be, it would be a harsh penalty necessary for that, if it’s true. It’ll be a decision of the body.”
In a statement to Fox News prior to the hearing, Cherfilus-McCormick expressed disappointment that the House committee was proceeding with the hearing and laughably alleged it was a violation of her due process rights.
Again, see above regarding January 6 defendants when whining about a “violation” of “due process.”
“I urge the Committee to follow its own precedents and uphold fairness and not allow this process to be driven by politics or numbers,” she said. “I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight and challenge these inaccuracies when I am legally able to do so.”
In the lead-up to Thursday’s hearing, the House Ethics Committee unveiled a 27-count “statement of alleged violations” against Cherfilus-McCormick.
A public hearing is rare for these types of inquiries. The last such time the eight-member panel held a public hearing against a lawmaker was in 2010.
Florida Republican Greg Steube said, regardless of the Ethics Committee decision, he will move forward with a resolution to kick Cherfilus-McCormick from the People’s House. Under House rules, that would require two-thirds of the lower chamber to vote to expel the embattled congresswoman, meaning a number of Democrats would have to swallow their partisan sword and do the right thing.
“You’re in a situation where you have a sitting member of Congress who’s allegedly stolen over $5 million in taxpayer funds,” Steube told reporters earlier this week, according to Fox News Digital. “She should immediately resign instead of going through this process. But she’s going to force us to do this.”
Steube also noted that an expulsion recommendation from the House Ethics Committee would force the Democrats’ hands.
“If the committee, in a bipartisan manner, recommends an expulsion, that puts the Democratic caucus in a tough position because you would be undermining your own members of the Ethics Committee.”
One thing we’ve learned about Democrats. They rarely, if ever, break ranks. Even if it means supporting a two-bit criminal like Cherfilus-McCormick.
And they talk about “No Kings.”
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