House Ethics panel probing Florida Democrat over campaign finances

The House Ethics Committee announced Wednesday that it was launching an investigation into Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick for alleged federal campaign finance violations.

The House panel unanimously approved the establishment of an investigative subcommittee led by Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and noted in a statement that the Office of Congressional Ethics had initially brought the matter forward.

The investigation will explore whether Cherfilus-McCormick, 44, violated campaign finance laws in either her 2022 special election or regular election campaigns, missed filing deadlines or “accepted voluntary services for official work from an individual not employed in her congressional office.”

The probe comes less than a month after lying Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled for an array of alleged campaign finance violations, including falsifying loans to his own campaign and defrauding donors.

“No other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules,” the Ethics panel said in a statement.

The Brooklyn-born Cherfilus-McCormick, a former health care executive, won the special election in January 2022 to replace the late Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings, who had served in Florida’s 20th Congressional District since 1993.

During that campaign, Cherfilus-McCormick aroused suspicion by personally loaning her campaign more than $6 million and then paying herself back to the tune of roughly $2.5 million, Federal Election Commission filings show.

Much of that repayment occurred after beating her opponent in the special Democratic primary by just five votes, Florida Politics reported.

Cherfilus-McCormick went on to win the general election in November, defeating Republican candidate Drew Montez-Clark by a landslide in the majority-black district.

According to her 2022 House financial disclosures, Cherfilus-McCormick only had up to $545,000 in assets, while maintaining a student loan balance of between $150,000 and $350,000.

The left-wing lawmaker had twice challenged Hastings for the seat before his death in April 2021, attacking him during the 2020 election cycle for being the subject of a House ethics inquiry for having sex with a member of his staff.

“It is nearly impossible to effectively legislate on behalf of your constituents when you are preoccupied with being a defendant in congressional investigations,” Cherfilus-McCormick told the Palm Beach Post when asked about the investigation in August 2020.

“Moreover, a necessary component of effective representation is trust. Multiple scandals surrounding Rep. Hastings proves that he is untrustworthy and that it is time to elect a representative who will not abuse the power of their office.”

The investigation ended after Hastings married the staff member, Patricia Williams — an attorney who represented the congressman in the 1980s when he was accused of taking bribes while a federal judge in South Florida.

Williams was disbarred in 1992 after a disciplinary panel found she had misappropriated client money.

Hastings was acquitted in court of conspiracy to solicit $150,000 in exchange for lenient sentencing of a pair of brothers on racketeering-related charges. However, he was impeached by the House of Representatives in May 1989 on charges of perjury and conspiracy and convicted by the Senate that October.

He was elected to the House in 1992.

Jonathan Levin, a spokesman for Cherfilus-McCormick, stressed in a statement to The Post that “the Congresswoman takes these matters seriously and is working to resolve them.”

“As the Ethics Committee said in its statement,” he added, “the mere fact of establishing an investigative subcommittee does not itself indicate that any violation occurred.”