House Ethics panel to begin first public ‘trial’ in 16 years for Florida Dem Rep Cherfilus-McCormick

A House Ethics Committee on Thursday is set to begin its first public “trial” in 16 years for Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick over allegations that she stole millions in FEMA funds and committed campaign finance infractions.The House Ethics subcommittee will meet to consider a motion for summary judgment, which in effect will determine whether to declare Cherfilus-McCormick guilty, according to POLITICO. If the subcommittee finds her guilty, then the full committee will schedule a hearing for a later date to determine which punishment to recommend, and the full House will vote to execute it.
Subcommittee members could suggest a punishment as minor as a reprimand or censure, or as extreme as expulsion. To expel Cherfilus-McCormick would require a two-thirds majority, which House GOP leaders believe they will have, according to three anonymous sources.
Cherfilus-McCormick, a third-term Congress member, is facing federal criminal charges in Florida. She has maintained her innocence, saying, “The full facts will make clear I did nothing wrong.”
On Wednesday, Cherfilus-McCormick said she was “innocent” and a “fighter,” criticizing the Ethics committee for proceeding with the trial despite her request for a delay that would give “my legal team reasonable time to prepare.” 
The committee has already delayed the trial once, after she lost her legal representation.
“I urge the Committee to follow its own precedents and uphold fairness and not allow this process to be driven by politics or numbers,” Cherfilus-McCormick said.
The last formal trial held by the House Ethics Committee was in 2010 for Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., who was censured for a wide range of violations including tax evasion. He died last year.
House Ethics Committee Chairman Rep. Michael Guest, a New Jersey Republican, said his panel has been reviewing the proceedings from the Rangel trial as a guide for how to approach the Cherfilus-McCormick trial, explaining the committee intends to “follow the map that has been laid out in the previous hearings.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and his office said that Cherfilus-McCormick is “entitled to her day in court and the presumption of innocence.” and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar told reporters Wednesday he also would not “prejudge any outcome” of the House Ethics Committee’s proceedings.
However, House Democrats had pushed for the removal of serial fraudster Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., ahead of a full Ethics Committee process in 2023.
“If they give us conclusions that this actually happened, and there’s no question of doubt as to the fact that laws were broken, then our colleague will have to face the consequences of that — it’s plain and simple,” Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., told Politico, regarding Cherfilus-McCormick.

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