The U.S. House Ethics Committee announced Friday it will hold a public hearing later this month to decide the political fate of embattled South Florida Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.
The full Committee will meet April 21 in Washington, D.C., to determine what, if any, sanctions will be recommended to the U.S. House of Representatives. She could be expelled from Congress.
The Committee last month found that Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Miramar, committed 25 violations of House rules and ethics standards.
The allegations center around Cherfilus-McCormick's receipt of millions of dollars from her family’s health care business after Florida made an overpayment of roughly $5 million in disaster relief funds.
She is accused of using that money to fund her 2022 congressional campaign through a network of businesses and family members.
The congresswoman, who is running for a fourth term representing district that includes Broward and Palm Beach counties, has denied wrongdoing.
Cherfilus-McCormick also faces federal charges for allegedly stealing the $5 million in COVID-19 disaster relief funds and using it for purchases like a 3-carat yellow diamond ring. Her brother, former chief of staff and accountant were also charged. She has pleaded not guilty to those charges, and her attorney indicated Thursday that the trial is expected to start in the coming months.
READ MORE: House ethics panel finds Florida congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 violations
The congresswoman declined to testify during the ethics committee hearing last month, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Her attorney, William Barzee, sparred with some of the lawmakers on the ethics panel and argued that they should have allowed a thorough ethics trial, where he could present witnesses and evidence to counter the conclusions of House investigators.
Barzee accused the panel of giving further momentum to the effort to “throw a woman out of Congress who was duly elected by her constituents” based primarily on bank records.
Committee investigators laid out 27 violations of House ethics standards and rules in a 242-page report.
The report accused Cherfilus-McCormick of winning a 2022 special election by portraying her campaign as self-financed when it was actually funded through the $5 million overpayment her family’s company received from Florida for coronavirus vaccination services.
Barzee had argued that “she was entitled to that money,” pointing to a document that broke down how her family would share the proceeds from the health care business. But lawmakers on the ethics panel were skeptical of that argument.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
