House forms panel to look into allegations against Cherfilus-McCormick

The U.S. House Ethics Committee announced Wednesday that it was forming an Investigative Subcommittee to determine if U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat, violated any laws or rules.

Just what the subcommittee is looking at is unknown. Neither the committee’s leaders nor Cherfilus-McCormick’s spokesperson said what the allegations are about.

The joint statement from the Republican chair and top Democrat on the committee was the usual, brief format routinely used by the ethics panel.

They said the subcommittee would have jurisdiction to examine whether the congresswoman “violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of her duties or the discharge of her responsibilities, with respect to allegations that she may have violated campaign finance laws and regulations in connection with her 2022 special election and/or 2022 re-election campaigns; failed to properly disclose required information on statements required to be filed with the House; and/or accepted voluntary services for official work from an individual not employed in her congressional office.”

Four members of Congress — two Republicans and two Democrats — will serve on the subcommittee.

The Ethics Committee leaders said they acted after a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics. The contents of the Sept. 25 referral weren’t released.

“The Committee notes that the mere fact of establishing an Investigative Subcommittee does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred. No other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules. Pursuant to (House and committee rules) no documents will be released at this time,” said U.S. Reps. Michael Guest, R-Miss., and Susan Wild, D-Pa.

Cherfilus-McCormick spokesperson Jonathan Levin said via email that, “As the Ethics Committee said in its statement, the mere fact of establishing an investigative subcommittee does not itself indicate that any violation occurred. Regardless, the Congresswoman takes these matters seriously and is working to resolve them.”

Cherfilus-McCormick was elected in January 2022 to fill the remainder of the late U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings’ term and then reelected to a full term in November 2022.

The Ethics in Government Act requires candidates for federal office to file financial disclosure reports once they raise or spend $5,000. Many candidates never file. In the hotly contested 2021 primary, of the six leading candidates, three filed reports before the primary and three, including Cherfilus-McCormick, didn’t file until after the primary.

She received extensions, which are routine for many members of Congress, for the disclosure reports due in 2022 and 2023, both of which ultimately were filed.

In 2022, Inside Elections, a nonpartisan political analysis news service in Washington, D.C., raised questions about Cherfilus-McCormick using official government funds to run ads on TV in South Florida.

Using official money for TV ads is legal “as long as they cover official business and steer clear of campaign content,” Inside Elections reported. Cherfilus-McCormick’s office said at the time the spots were all vetted and followed the rules.

Campaign finance reports covering the period from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 show Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign committee paid $20,000 earlier this year to a Washington, D.C., law firm for legal fees.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Facebook, Threads.net and Post.news.