Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida may have resigned from Congress in disgrace, but that doesn’t mean you’ve seen the last of her.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who faces decades in prison if convicted of charges of laundering $5 million in COVID relief funds into such causes as her congressional campaign and a diamond ring, resigned April 21 just minutes before a hearing on her expulsion began.
She became the third representative to vacate her seat during the month of April, which saw both parties unload baggage they really wanted to be rid of. Democrat California Rep. Eric Swalwell and Texas GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales both faced sexual misconduct allegations.
However, don’t think you’ve seen the last of former Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick — because, indeed, former Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida could be future Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida.
Lost in the shuffle from her resignation from Congress before the House began deliberating whether to expel her was the fact that, four days before that — with her fate almost sealed — Cherfilus-McCormick filed to run again with the Florida Department of State as a Democrat in her district.
“The filing raises questions about whether Cherfilus-McCormick believes she can still pursue political office despite facing intense scrutiny at the moment,” Fox News noted in an April 24 report.
It’s not as if this was something that she didn’t see coming, either. In November, she was charged with the $5 million theft of Federal Emergency Management disaster relief funds, something that she’d been under investigation for since at least 2023.
In late March, the House Ethics Committee found her guilty of 25 charges and expulsion looked to be imminent. However, the likelihood was hastened by April’s baggage-dropping-o-rama by both parties, and Cherfilus-McCormick — the only member of the departed trio currently staring down the barrel of 53 years in prison — was arguably the heaviest piece of it, given the weight of the evidence and the criminal charges.
However, NOTUS said she’s still running in November in a separate April 24 report. And not only that, she might win.
One veteran Florida Democratic operative suggested Cherfilus-McCormick would have a fair shot at winning reelection because the district is heavily reliant on name recognition, adding that the expensive media markets — which span from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale — would make it difficult for a newcomer to break through.
But, the political operative added: “While we would have to check with the lawyers to see if Cherfilus-McCormick can run using Cell Block C as her residence, it isn’t clear that there is anyone in that district who can beat her if she runs again.”
Yeah, but seriously, she can’t be serious, right?
Well, she broke her silence on Wednesday, for the first time since the resignation. And it sure sounds like, yes, she is.
“Good evening, everyone I want to start out by saying thank you I love you guys from the bottom of my heart,” she said during a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida.
WPEC-TV said that she “struck a defiant tone, framing her situation as a setback rather than an ending.”
“This is not the end for any of us. This is the beginning,” she said.
Yes, one supposes it’s the beginning of a court case, all right. One also supposes that when she made those remarks, she’s not thinking about the trial regarding the $5 million FEMA overpayment to her family’s healthcare company that may have allegedly made its way into her campaign coffers, but a congressional campaign.
Not only that, she told WPEC that investigators “got several wrong things” and that her team “showed them documentation that there was a profit-sharing agreement.” Which, again, is something that should be sussed out in court and, again, does not sound like something she’s angling to suss out in a court of law but the court of public opinion at the ballot box.
“The committee didn’t have a process that was fair and was trampling over all my due process,” she said. “At the end of the day, they had an agenda to execute.”
Yes, an agenda to take into account that you’re facing literally 53 years in prison if you get the max sentence. This is how your 2026 Democrats are portraying themselves, ladies and gentlemen. And, it looks like that run from Cell Block C is definitely happening.
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