Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) is defending herself after being indicted on federal charges that she allegedly misused $5 million in FEMA disaster relief funds to help finance her 2021 congressional campaign. The Justice Department accuses her of routing overpayments from a COVID-19 contract through her family’s health-care business and using straw donors to funnel the money back into her campaign.
Cherfilus-McCormick strongly denies the allegations, calling them “an unjust, baseless, sham indictment.” She claims the charges are politically motivated and intended to distract from recent developments around Jeffrey Epstein’s documents.
She went further in accusing her critics of playing a racial game:
“If this is what Congress is becoming … attacking minorities, Black and brown people … then we’re going to have to keep fighting … until the district … gets fair representation.”
The indictment alarms her political opponents, too. Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) has already filed a resolution to expel her from Congress if she doesn’t resign, although it’s unclear whether he can get the two-thirds vote required.
AG Pam Bondi condemned the alleged conduct, calling it “a particularly selfish, cynical crime.”
Cherfilus-McCormick says she will continue to serve her district while she “fights to clear her good name.”
