Marie Gluesenkamp Perez Backs Expelling Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) said she believes Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) should leave Congress after an adjudication subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee found that 25 of 27 ethics charges against Cherfilus-McCormick were proven following a public House Ethics Committee hearing, the first involving a member in exercise since 2010.
Gluesenkamp Perez, one of the first House Democrats to publicly support expelling Cherfilus-McCormick from the House, wrote Friday morning on X: “You cannot commit crimes to gain legitimate power. Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed from office.
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Andrew Solender, Axios Congress reporter, later confirmed on X that Gluesenkamp Perez told her she would support expelling Cherfilus-McCormick from the House.
Perez before broken with members of her own party in November when she led a bipartisan rebuke of Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL) over what she called an effort that undermined voters’ ability to choose their representatives.
The comments came after the House Ethics Committee announcement that an arbitration subcommittee concluded that 25 of 27 ethics charges against Cherfilus-McCormick were “proven by clear and convincing evidence” following deliberations that lasted until after midnight.
This discovery follows an investigation lasting more than two years during which committee investigators examined more than 33,000 documents, held a dozen meetings, issued dozens of subpoenas and concluded that there was “substantial evidence” that she engaged in conduct consistent with the federal indictment and other misconduct.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in a parallel federal criminal case, was found by the subcommittee to have committed numerous ethics violations involving campaign finance laws, inaccurate disclosure forms, improper campaign contributions and using her position to benefit her allies.
The House Ethics Committee’s investigative report alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick financed her 2022 special election campaign, which she has publicly described as self-funded, with money related to a $5 million overpayment mistakenly made in July 2021 to her family business, Trinity Healthcare Services, by a Florida agency. through a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination contract.
Investigators also said she later financed her re-election campaign through entities linked to friends and relatives, including consulting groups and a largely finance by the Haitian government. Prosecutors also alleged that more than $100,000 of the illegally obtained money was used to purchase a 3-carat yellow diamond ring.
During closing arguments at Thursday’s hearing, Rep. Brad Knott (R-NC) rejected The defense claims Cherfilus-McCormick had no knowledge of money movements related to his campaign and the family business. “But when you add up all the things she didn’t know, it absolutely flies in the face of common sense,” Knott said.
Knott then pointed to text messages that he said showed Cherfilus-McCormick was “integrally involved” in the movement of money related to her campaign. He cited one post saying, “The maximum is two checks for $2,900. That’s why the sister had to give Nadège money to make another donation,” and another saying, “The goal is 2 million, at least 1.5 million.”
Knott also cited an exchange in which Hector Roos (an individual involved in Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional campaign) wrote, “I suggest you transfer funds to the campaign account sooner rather than waiting until near the end of the month. This is the only chance to put out a big number,” to which Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly responded, “I have no plans to use that amount, I’m just leveraging. I think it’s a good idea.” Knott added that another response said: “Indeed, but no one has to know that.” »
“You and I both know that sometimes the evidence speaks for itself,” Knott said, arguing that “she had knowledge far beyond what you have represented to this committee” and said he did not believe there were “material issues” in the case against Cherfilus-McCormick.
