Embattled South Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who has been indicted for stealing $5 million in federal funds and campaign fraud, called the investigation a "sham," "unjust" and "baseless."
"I am innocent," the Democratic lawmaker from Miramar said in a statement issued by her chief of staff on Thursday to local and national media outlets.
"The timing alone is curious and clearly meant to distract from far more pressing national issues," said Cherfilus-McCormick, who said she has cooperated with federal prosecutors investigating the allegations.
"From day one, I have cooperated with every lawful request, and I will continue to do so until this matter is resolved," she said.
"Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick is a committed public servant, who is dedicated to her constituents. We will fight to clear her good name," wrote her attorneys David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss and Melissa Madrigal, in a statement.
Not resigning from Congress
While Cherfilus-McCormick said she intends to continue representing her South Florida district, which includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, she is stepping down from her position as ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced Thursday.
"Consistent with the United States Constitution, she is entitled to her day in court and the presumption of innocence," Jeffries said in a statement, adding that the move to step down is in line with the rules of the House Democratic Caucus.
Other lawmakers called on her to resign from Congress.
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, a Republican who represents parts of Sarasota and Charlotte Counties in southwest Florida, called Thursday for her expulsion from Congress. If the congresswoman doesn't resign, Steube said he'd bring a resolution to the floor to expel her.
"I have decided to skip censure and move straight to expulsion, he wrote on X. "Defrauding the federal government and disaster victims of $5 million is an automatic disqualifier from serving in elected office."
READ MORE: Miami grand jury indicts Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick for theft of $5M in FEMA funds, campaign fraud
"Cherfilus-McCormick needs to be swiftly removed from the House before she can inflict any more harm on Congress, her district, and the State of Florida," he wrote.
The last member of Congress to be expelled was scandal-plagued U.S. Rep. George Santos of New York. Santos had not yet been convicted of federal charges, and House Speaker Mike Johnson voted against it at the time, expressing concern about setting a precedent of expelling members based on untried allegations.
Allegations of stealing federal funds, campaign fraud
A Miami federal grand jury returned an indictment against her several co-defendants, alleging that she and the others stole federal disaster funds, laundered the proceeds, and used the cash to support her 2021 congressional election campaign, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and her brother Edwin Cherfilus, 51, both of Miramar, worked through their family health-care company on a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract in 2021, according to the indictment. In July 2021, the company then received an overpayment of $5 million in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to steal the $5 million and rout it through "multiple accounts to disguise its source."
"Prosecutors allege that a substantial portion of the misappropriated funds was used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick's 2021 congressional campaign and for the personal benefit of the defendants," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami said in a statement.
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Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc, 46, of Miramar, arranged additional contributions using straw donors, funneling other monies from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 contract "to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money," according to the indictment.
Cherfilus-McCormick and her 2021 tax preparer David K. Spencer, 41, of Davie, are also indicted on charges of conspiring to file a false federal tax return.
"They falsely claimed political spending and other personal expenses as business deductions and inflated charitable contributions in order to reduce her tax obligations," the indictment said.
In a statement announcing the indictment on Thursday, Attorney General Pamela Bondi condemned the congresswoman.
"Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime," said Bondi. "No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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