The conservative watchdog Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust on Thursday asked the Justice Department to investigate Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) for allegedly pocketing a $5.8 million overpayment from the state of Florida and using it to fund her first successful congressional bid, according to a Thursday report.
The congresswoman remains “the subject of numerous ethics and legal investigations by the Office of Congressional Ethics and House Ethics Committee, which found evidence that she accepted campaign contributions linked to an official action, accepted illegal in-kind campaign contributions, dispensed special favors to friends, misrepresented the source of campaign contributions, and requested community project funding to be directed to a for-profit entity,” according to FACT’s letter.
“Not only are these serious ethics concerns, but, if true, are likely serious criminal violations,” it continues. The Washington Examiner was the first outlet to report the referral.
Previously, FACT urged the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate these allegations. In May, the office found “probable cause” of ethics and campaign finance violations and recommended that the bipartisan House Ethics Committee open a formal probe. That investigation has been underway since 2023, the outlet reported.
Cherfilus-McCormick responded to the DOJ referral in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner. “The Committee on Ethics has not yet concluded its review of the allegations, and no decision has been made at this time,” she said. “As outlined in the Committee’s public statement, the referral for further review does not imply that any violation has occurred. I fully respect the process and remain committed to cooperating with the Committee as it works to bring this inquiry to a close.”
The Florida Division of Emergency Management sued late last year, alleging that Trinity Health Care Services—the company Cherfilus-McCormick ran before her congressional tenure—knowingly submitted an invoice over 100 times its normal size.
Hired in 2021 to manage COVID-19 vaccine registrations, Trinity’s billing error inflated a $50,578.50 charge to $5,057,850, with further clerical mistakes driving the total to $5.8 million. The state claims the excess funds were never returned, implying they may have been used to support her campaign, the Examiner noted.
Cherfilus-McCormick’s income reportedly rose by over $6 million around the time the Florida agency made the overpayment. Following this increase, she loaned millions of dollars to her largely self-funded campaign during the 2022 election cycle, according to records from the Federal Election Commission.
“Despite the increase in income, her assets did not notably increase as shown on her congressional financial disclosure reports,” the letter reads. “The facts, timeline, and dollar amounts are plainly incriminating.”
