Report alleges Cherfilus-McCormick may have accepted campaign contributions ‘linked to an official action'
If proven, the allegation contained in a document released Thursday by the House Ethics Committee could be a violation of House rules, standards of conduct and federal law.
The Office of Congressional Conduct determined in May 2024 that the matter warranted review by the Congressional Ethics Committee, which said it has been reviewing the allegation for the last year. The official document provided no details, just a total of three sentences in two different places.
It was one of five alleged violations. The board of the Office of Congressional Conduct recommended further review of three and dismissal of two.
The document was released one year after the conduct office, which reviews allegations of misconduct against members, referred the case to the committee, which investigates and adjudicates alleged violations of House rules and related laws.
In a joint statement accompanying the release of the referral, the Republican chair and top Democrat on the Ethics Committee said that 'the mere fact of a continued investigation into these allegations does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred.'
For the three violations it said warranted further investigation, the congressional conduct office said Cherfilus-McCormick 'may have' taken actions that, if substantiated, mean 'she may have violated House rules and standards of conduct.' For two of the allegations, it said violations may have violated federal law.
Besides the allegation about 'campaign contributions linked to an official action,' the office said she may have requested community project funding that would be directed to a for-profit entity. It also said her congressional office may have 'made payments to an entity in violation of' the rules or 'alternatively, that her campaign may have accepted and failed to report in-kind (campaign) contributions that may have exceeded applicable limits.'
In each of the three allegations, the conduct office's board voted 6-0 to recommend further review by the Ethics Committee.
The board voted 5-1 to recommend dismissal of the allegation that she 'may have dispensed favors or privileges to friends' in connection with official requests for community project funding. It voted 6-0 to recommend dismissal of an allegation that her campaign misrepresented the source of a campaign contribution or accepted a contribution made by one person in the name of another.
In both dismissal recommendations, the board found there was 'not substantial reason to believe' the allegations.
In a statement provided by her communications director, Cherfilus-McCormick said, 'The Committee on Ethics has not yet concluded its review of the allegations, and no decision has been made at this time. 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.'
In 2023, the Ethics Committee received an earlier referral. A limited summary was released in 2024 — similar to the one put out Thursday. In January, 576 pages of materials were released.
In the earlier case, which has not been publicly resolved, the Office of Congressional Conduct said there was 'substantial reason to believe' four allegations including that she 'made payments to a state political action committee in connection with her campaign and failed to report these payments as contributions to her campaign' and that her campaign campaign committee 'accepted and failed to report contributions exceeding contribution limits.'
Cherfilus-McCormick was first elected in a January 2022 special election in the Broward-Palm Beach county 20th Congressional District.
A Democrat, she was elected to a full term in November 2022.
No Democratic primary challenger or Republican general election challenger came forward to run against Cherfilus-McCormick in 2024, making her the only one of Florida's 28 members of Congress returned to office without facing a primary or general election.
A young Democratic activist, Elijah Manley, who has run unsuccessfully for office before, is challenging Cherfilus-McCormick in the 2026 Democratic primary.
'The people of Florida are sick and tired of political corruption, ethical scandals, and the legal maneuvers the wealthy and powerful use to escape accountability,' Manley said in a statement, adding that in his view the information released by the Ethics Committee shows the incumbent's 'inability to serve the people of Florida's 20th District with honesty and transparency.'
Congressional ethics investigations move slowly, and the system is byzantine to outsiders.
The Office of Congressional Conduct has its own staff and is governed by a bipartisan board of private citizens who aren't members of Congress and don't work for the federal government. Half the members are chosen by the House speaker and half by the minority party leader.
Currently there are only four members instead of the six members and four alternates. Another change: Until January, it was called the Office of Congressional Ethics. This year 'conduct' was substituted for 'ethics' in the name.
The House Ethics Committee includes equal numbers of Republican and Democratic members, which is unusual. The majority party has a majority of spots on all other committees. The panel conducts its business behind closed doors and is circumspect about its activities.
The joint statement Thursday from U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican and committee chair, and U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of California, the top Democrat on the panel, was the usual, brief format, totaling four paragraphs.
'No other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules,' Guest and DeSaulnier said.
In cases — such as this one — in which the committee hasn't finished its investigation within a year receiving a referral from the Office of Congressional Conduct, House rules require the release of the referral.
The referral contains some details, but the supporting materials the committee gets at the same time, which can be voluminous, aren't included. Two pages were released Thursday, but pages 3 to 17 were not.
If there has been no resolution of the investigation and at least one year has passed, all the supporting documents are publicly released at the end of the two-year session of Congress. In this case, that would be January 2027.
Currently the matter is in the hands of an investigative subcommittee of the Ethics Committee, which is still considering the earlier ethics referral.
Separately, a lawsuit involving Cherfilus-McCormick's former company, Trinity Health Care Services, has been settled.
In December, the Florida Division of Emergency Management sued Trinity to recover what it said was $5.8 million in overpayments.
Before she was elected to Congress, Cherfilus-McCormick was the CEO of the family-owned company. The case involved the company, not Cherfilus-McCormick. Her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, is vice president of operations, according to his LinkedIn page.
In 2021, the emergency management agency hired Trinity to administer COVID-19 vaccinations and employ canvassers to sign people up to get vaccinated.
In its lawsuit, the state said that on June 28, 2021, the emergency management division sent Trinity an 'overpayment of $5,057,050.00' instead of the $50,578.50 it actually owed 'due to a clerical error.' It later discovered 'several' additional overpayments, totaling $5.78 million.
The Leon County Circuit Clerk's Office website shows the case is closed. The most recent filing, from an attorney representing the Division of Emergency Management, said there was 'an executed settlement agreement in the matter,' and that both the state agency and Trinity Healthcare Services would each pay their own attorneys' fees.
Trinity did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, and it agreed to repay $5.62 million. Though the total repayment is almost as much as the state wanted, it is effectively much less because it is being repaid over many years without interest.
Under the terms of the settlement Trinity agreed to pay $25,000 in April and $15,000 in May. Starting in 2026, the company agreed to repay $92,910.99 each quarter, which works out to $371,644 a year. The repayments last 15 years, which means the final payment would be made in the fourth quarter of 2040.
_____
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
9 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Virginia judge bars Youngkin's university board appointments rejected by Senate Democrats
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A judge ordered that eight public university board members tapped by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin be removed from their posts in a victory for Virginia Senate Democrats who rejected the appointees in a June committee vote. Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Jonathan D. Frieden severed the newly appointed members from their governing-board seats at the University of Virginia, George Mason University and the Virginia Military Institute. His order came at the request of nine Virginia Senate Democrats who filed a lawsuit last month requesting immediate action against the heads of university boards, also known as rectors or presidents. The nine senators argued that despite the legislative committee rejecting the membership of the eight board members, the board chairs had continued acknowledging them as members, and Frieden agreed. 'Here, the public interest is served by protecting the power of the elected legislature to confirm or reject gubernatorial appointees,' Frieden wrote in an opinion letter about his order. An attorney representing the board rectors said in court that if unsuccessful, he intended to appeal Frieden's order. The case comes amid the White House's effort to reshape higher education, with a focus on DEI. Colleges in Virginia and across the U.S. have recently become a groundswell for political tension between academic leaders and the federal government, with boards at the center of those battles. The political and cultural divide in higher education has only escalated conflicts over who gets to have a seat at the table for critical board votes that could shape those institutions' future. In June, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan resigned after the Justice Department pushed for his removal. Earlier this month, the Trump administration initiated a civil rights investigation into George Mason University's hiring practices. The board at George Mason is having a meeting later this week. And earlier this year, the board at the Virginia Military Institute ousted its president, Retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins. His tenure as president was marked by the implementation of diversity initiatives, which faced pushback from some conservative alumni. Last month, the Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections committee met through an ongoing special session and opted against approving the eight university appointees made by Youngkin, notably including former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli II and Caren Merrick, Youngkin's former commerce secretary. According to the state Constitution, all gubernatorial appointments are subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. Following the vote, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Scott Surrovell wrote a letter to all board chairs, reminding them that appointees must be approved by the legislature. But Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares also wrote to the heads of the university boards, instead advising them that the appointed members should remain on the governing bodies because only a committee, not the whole state General Assembly, had voted to reject them. Mark Stancil, an attorney representing the Democratic senators, argued that the attorney general's guidance was incorrect. 'Their position flies in the face of the text of the Constitution, the text of the governing statute, and decades of longstanding practice," he wrote in a court filing. Christopher Michel, representing the rectors, countered that if the Constitution states that the legislature has the power to reject appointees, that would mean the full legislature rather than one committee. 'The General Assembly is a two-house body,' Michel said. Michel further questioned whether the Virginia senators met the legal requirements necessary to have board members immediately removed by a judge. He asserted that Virginia senators had sued the wrong people, and that the rectors did not represent the voted-down members themselves. In turn, Stancil argued to the court that rectors are responsible for holding meetings and counting votes. Frieden said in his letter that the rectors did have culpability in the case, writing: 'As the person presiding at those meetings, each ... is responsible for recognizing members who wish to speak and recognizing and announcing the votes of members.' Inside the courtroom, Surovell, state Sen. Kannan Srinivasan and Deputy Attorney General Theo Stamos sat among the benches. Surovell said to a group of reporters outside the courtroom that state Democrats had a responsibility to push back. 'These boards just don't seem very interested in following any law or listening to anything that the entity that controls them says,' he said. 'This hearing today is about making sure that we have a rule of law in Virginia — that the laws are followed and that the Senate is listened to.' ___
Los Angeles Times
9 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Women in legislatures across the U.S. fight for ‘potty parity'
For female state lawmakers in Kentucky, choosing when to go to the bathroom has long required careful calculation. There are only two bathroom stalls for women on the third floor of the Kentucky Statehouse, where the House and Senate chambers are located. Female legislators — 41 of the 138 member Legislature — needing a reprieve during a lengthy floor session have to weigh the risk of missing an important debate or a critical vote. None of their male colleagues face the same dilemma because, of course, multiple men's bathrooms are available. The Legislature even installed speakers in the men's bathrooms to broadcast the chamber's events so they don't miss anything important. In a pinch, House Speaker David Osborne allows women to use his single stall bathroom in the chamber, but even that attracts long lines. 'You get the message very quickly: This place was not really built for us,' said Rep. Lisa Willner, a Democrat from Louisville, reflecting on the photos of former lawmakers, predominantly male, that line her office. The issue of potty parity may seem comic, but its impact runs deeper than uncomfortably full bladders, said Kathryn Anthony, professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Architecture. 'It's absolutely critical because the built environment reflects our culture and reflects our population,' said Anthony, who has testified on the issue before Congress. 'And if you have an environment that is designed for half the population but forgets about the other half, you have a group of disenfranchised people and disadvantaged people.' There is hope for Kentucky's lady legislators seeking more chamber potties. A $300 million renovation of the 155-year-old Capitol — scheduled for completion by 2028 at the soonest — aims to create more women's restrooms and end Kentucky's bathroom disparity. The Bluegrass State is among the last to add bathrooms to aging statehouses that were built when female legislators were not a consideration. In the $392 million renovation of the Georgia Capitol, expanding bathroom access is a priority, said Gerald Pilgrim, chief of staff with the state's Building Authority. It will introduce female facilities on the building's fourth floor, where the public galleries are located, and will add more bathrooms throughout to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 'We know there are not enough bathrooms,' he said. There's no federal law requiring bathroom access for all genders in public buildings. Some 20 states have statutes prescribing how many washrooms buildings must have, but historical buildings — such as statehouses — are often exempt. Over the years, as the makeup of state governments has changed, statehouses have added bathrooms for women. When Tennessee's Capitol opened in 1859, the architects designed only one restroom — for men only — situated on the ground floor. According to legislative librarian Eddie Weeks, the toilet could only be 'flushed' when enough rainwater had been collected. 'The room was famously described as 'a stench in the nostrils of decency,'' Weeks said in an email. Today, Tennessee's Capitol has a female bathroom located between the Senate and House chambers. It's in a cramped hall under a staircase, sparking comparisons to Harry Potter's cupboard bedroom, and it contains just two stalls. The men also just have one bathroom on the same floor, but it has three urinals and three stalls. Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn, who was elected in 2023, said she wasn't aware of the disparity in facilities until contacted by The Associated Press. 'I've apparently accepted that waiting in line for a two-stall closet under the Senate balcony is just part of the job,' she said. 'I had to fight to get elected to a legislature that ranks dead last for female representation, and now I get to squeeze into a space that feels like it was designed by someone who thought women didn't exist — or at least didn't have bladders,' Behn said. The Maryland State House is the country's oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, operational since the late 1700s. Archivists say its bathroom facilities were initially intended for white men only because desegregation laws were still in place. Women's restrooms were added after 1922, but they were insufficient for the rising number of women elected to office. Delegate Pauline Menes complained about the issue so much that House Speaker Thomas Lowe appointed her chair of the 'Ladies Rest Room Committee,' and presented her with a fur covered toilet seat in front of her colleagues in 1972. She launched the women's caucus the following year. It wasn't until 2019 that House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the first woman to secure the top position, ordered the addition of more women's restrooms along with a gender-neutral bathroom and a nursing room for mothers in the Lowe House Office Building. As more women were elected nationwide in the 20th century, some found creative workarounds. In Nebraska's unicameral Legislature, female senators didn't get a dedicated restroom until 1988, when a facility was added in the chamber's cloakroom. There had previously been a single restroom in the senate lounge, and Sen. Shirley Marsh, who served for some 16 years, would ask a State Patrol trooper to guard the door while she used it, said Brandon Metzler, the Legislature's clerk. In Colorado, female House representatives and staff were so happy to have a restroom added in the chamber's hallway in 1987 that they hung a plaque to honor then-state Rep. Arie Taylor, the state's first Black woman legislator, who pushed for the facility. The plaque, now inside a women's bathroom in the Capitol, reads: 'Once here beneath the golden dome if nature made a call, we'd have to scramble from our seats and dash across the hall ... Then Arie took the mike once more to push an urge organic, no longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic.' The poem concludes: 'In mem'ry of you, Arie (may you never be forgot), from this day forth we'll call that room the Taylor Chamber Pot.' New Mexico Democratic state Rep. Liz Thomson recalled missing votes in the House during her first year in office in 2013 because there was no women's restroom in the chamber's lounge. An increase in female lawmakers — New Mexico elected the largest female majority Legislature in U.S. history in 2024 — helped raise awareness of the issue, she said. 'It seems kind of like fluff, but it really isn't,' she said. 'To me, it really talks about respect and inclusion.' The issue is not exclusive to statehouses. In the U.S. Capitol, the first restroom for congresswomen didn't open until 1962. While a facility was made available for female U.S. Senators in 1992, it wasn't until 2011 that the House chamber opened a bathroom to women lawmakers. Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to a congressional seat. That happened in 1916. Willner insists that knowing the Kentucky Capitol wasn't designed for women gives her extra impetus to stand up and make herself heard. 'This building was not designed for me,' she said. 'Well, guess what? I'm here.' Kruesi and Rush write for the Associated Press. AP writer Brian Witte in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this report.
Fox News
10 minutes ago
- Fox News
In the wake of Manhattan mass shooting, NYC lawmaker urges New Yorkers to remain 'vigilant'
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., is warning New Yorkers to remain alert to their surroundings after a deadly mass shooting in the heart of Manhattan on Monday. The lone Republican representing New York City in the House of Representatives cautioned that little is still known about what led to the incident, which she said appeared to be "isolated." But she said it was another example of the dangers in today's world. "It didn't seem like it was a random attack. It seemed he had a motive to go to that particular building. But everyone has to stay vigilant. I mean, we know in a post-9/11 world we always need to remain vigilant, keep our eyes open and report things that feel suspicious," Malliotakis said. She said it was a "concerning" situation, noting the man was captured on camera armed with an assault rifle walking into the Park Avenue building, where he soon opened fire. "My heart breaks for the wife and the children of this police officer, and all the families that lost loved ones yesterday. Because people, you know, leave their house, they go to work, they go about their usual routine and they don't come home," Malliotakis said. "And that's obviously shocking, and it's heartbreaking, but it's also a reminder of how fragile life is and how we need to remain vigilant as a community and a country. Anything can happen at any time." Malliotakis urged fellow officials not to politicize the situation, and said she anticipated lawmakers would be briefed by the mayor's office and the New York Police Department (NYPD). She said when asked what information she was hoping to get, "I think obviously this person was probably not on the city's radar because he was coming from Nevada. The question was, was he on the radar of Nevada law enforcement or the federal government, because of a history of criminal activity or mental illness?" "What was his motive, [did he have] a history that could have raised a red flag?" she asked. A gunman, identified by police as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, is believed to have traveled from the western part of the U.S. to New York City, where he opened fire and killed three people inside a corporate office building in Midtown Manhattan before turning the gun on himself. Police said Tamura had a Las Vegas address and is believed to have had a "documented mental health history," according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Mayor Eric Adams told Fox 5 New York that it appeared Tamura was targeting the NFL, whose headquarters is located inside the building, along with other organizations. Multiple people were left dead, including a police officer and Tamura himself, and several others were injured. Adams said the man's suicide note alluded to him struggling with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and blaming the NFL, though he never played for the professional league. "We're still going through the suicide note to zero in on the exact reason," Adams said.
