A conservative watchdog is demanding that the congressional ethics office extend its investigation into Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D., Fla.), whose 2021 income increased after a Florida agency inadvertently overpaid her health-care company by more than $5 million, funds which she then allegedly used to finance her first-ever congressional campaign.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) submitted its inquiry urging the Office of Congressional Ethics to look into Cherfilus-McCormick, who remains the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation. The congressional ethics office conducted a report, but the committee has yet to act on its findings.
“It is the Office of Congressional Ethics duty to ensure that federal law and ethics rules are applied to each Representative,” the letter dated Monday reads. “The evidence in this case quite clearly demands an investigation to determine whether Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick violated House Ethics rules and federal campaign finance laws.”
In late December, the Florida Division of Emergency Management sued Trinity Health Care Services in an attempt to recover $5.8 million in overpayments mistakenly made during the Covid-19 pandemic. The state agency hired Trinity in 2021 to help with vaccine registrations.
The agency accidentally sent a payment 100 times higher than the original invoice due to a series of clerical errors. Instead of $50,578.50, Trinity received $5,057,850. Additional errors brought the total to $5.8 million.
“Trinity took advantage of the state of emergency the entire country was encountering due to the COVID-19 pandemic and knowingly processed an invoice more than 100 times its typical invoice size,” the lawsuit states. “Trinity refused to return the overpayments and instead has kept $5,778,316.45 that it was not entitled to and had not earned.”
Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly retained the funds and used the money to finance her 2022 congressional campaign. Before running for Congress in 2021, Cherfilus-McCormick resigned as the chief executive of Trinity. The company is based in Miramar, Fla.
Her 2021 income increased by more than $6 million compared to the prior year, suggesting she may have pocketed the funds to boost her largely self-funded campaign. In fact, according to Federal Election Commission records, she loaned her campaign more than $6.2 million. Nearly $4 million of the total came after the first $5 million overpayment.
“The facts, the timeline, and the dollar amounts appear plainly incriminating themselves and demand further investigation by the OCE,” says the letter, written by FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold.
Cherfilus-McCormick narrowly won the 2022 special primary election after her predecessor, Alcee Hastings, died. She held onto the seat after winning the general election later that year. The congresswoman was reelected in November.
In response to the allegations, Trinity has said it didn’t refuse to return the funds as alleged by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. The health-care service instead claims the agency ignored its response last summer and proceeded to file the lawsuit months later, according to the Sun Sentinel.
“Trinity promptly responded to FDEM’s written demand on July 12, 2024, and stated that it was unable to substantiate crept of any monies in error or any bases of repayment to FDEM, but was nevertheless willing to discuss the basis of the claimed overpayments,” the company said in a court filing. “However, FDEM did not respond to Trinity’s correspondence and instead proceeded to file this lawsuit on December 30, 2024.”
The congressional ethics office’s report detailed Cherfilus-McCormick’s alleged misconduct, including more than 30 payments amounting to more than $250,000 the South Florida Democrat’s consulting company sent to a Florida political action committee in 2021 and 2022 related to campaign work. The report also found that she may have improperly accepted and failed to report in-kind contributions.
Cherfilus-McCormick, whose actions FACT says violate House Ethics rules and campaign finance laws, has said the report’s findings doesn’t mean she is guilty of wrongdoing.
Cherfilus-McCormick’s office declined to comment on the situation because it “is not an official matter,” a spokesperson told National Review.