House panel finds Florida Dem Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick cheated on campaign rules

A House subcommittee concluded that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick manipulated the system to siphon ill-gotten money into her political campaigns, provided false information in her financial reports and gave special treatment to her associates when doling out specific spending plans.

The judging panel, in a vote Friday, upheld 25 of the 27 charges against the Florida Democrat.

The full House Ethics Committee will now decide what sanctions Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick will face, although a move is already underway to have her expelled from the chamber.

Rep. Greg Steube, Republican of Florida, previously said he would raise the issue after committee action was complete.

Friday’s vote came after a rare public hearing in which committee investigators presented what they called a “truckload of evidence” that the congresswoman intentionally used gimmicks to pump money into her first two campaigns, and also gave false information on her personal financial disclosures and campaign finance reports.

The main accusation was that money from the congresswoman’s family business, Trinity Health Care Services LLC, was used to fuel her campaign — including part of a $5 million overpayment in pandemic relief funds that the company refused to reimburse Florida for.

Investigators also said Haitian government money went to a U.S.-based company, Petrogaz-Haïti, that sent money to operations controlled by the congresswoman’s associates, who spent it on campaign issues.

Investigators did not say Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick knew of the ties to the Haitian government, but said the Petrogaz-Haiti money was an illegal contribution from a company that was hidden.

“Sometimes the evidence speaks for itself. And it says at a minimum that she was fully involved in moving money between these different entities and people in her campaign, her campaign balance,” said Rep. Brad Knott, Republican of North Carolina.

Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick sat at the witness table throughout the hearing, whispering to her lawyer William Barzee, who made her public defense.

He said there were explanations for the movement of money.

He said Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick was entitled to the Trinity funds because of a profit-sharing agreement she had with the rest of her family, and he said the lack of supporting documentation was the norm in the Haitian-American community, which includes the congresswoman.

Mr. Barzee acknowledged “many, many errors” in the erroneous campaign reports, but placed blame on others, saying the congresswoman wasn’t paying attention.

And he complained that the committee did not give him the opportunity to present witnesses to contradict the facts developed by investigators.

That irked lawmakers on the arbitration panel, who said the committee had sought Mr. Cherfilus-McCormick’s views for two years and was blocked.

Committee investigators had charged 27 violations. The arbitration committee selected 25.

One of them, which was not upheld, concerned allegations of money laundering, linked to the way in which money was transferred from Petrogaz-Haïti to its campaign associates.

The other was the lack of candor and diligence in responding to the ethics committee.

Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick first won her seat in a special election in early 2022 after the death of Rep. Alcee Hastings in 2021. Trinity money was used in that campaign.

She then had to quickly turn around and prepare for the November 2022 general elections, and that’s when the Petrogaz-Haiti money came into play, according to investigators.

They said Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick filed more than 60 false campaign finance reports that falsely state the state of her finances and loans she made to her campaign.

And the committee upheld the charge that Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick used her position to reward her associates with special treatment in earmarks, the items that lawmakers slip into bills to redirect federal taxpayer dollars to special interests in their states and districts.