Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), who now faces a federal indictment on charges of stealing $5 million in FEMA funds and using some of the money to bankroll her 2022 campaign, is now reportedly responding by claiming the charges are racially motivated and part of an effort to “intimidate” minorities.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Cherfilus-McCormick — the CEO of Trinity Health Care Services — allegedly diverted millions from a COVID-19 vaccination contract the federal government says her company was overpaid for. Rather than returning the excess funds, prosecutors say she instead loaned the money to herself and routed it “through multiple accounts to disguise its source” before pumping it into her congressional campaign.
If convicted, Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison.
Earlier this year, the state of Florida sued Trinity Health Care Services after determining the company received overpayments from a state vaccination contract. Federal prosecutors say that instead of fixing the issue, Cherfilus-McCormick treated the funds as her personal campaign war chest.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations, Cherfilus-McCormick dismissed the indictment as “unjust” and claimed it was meant to distract from unrelated scandals. She also accused Congress and prosecutors of targeting minorities.
In remarks this week, she said:
“Well, it’s an unjust indictment, and it seems like these intimidation tactics have been pervasive. We spent all week seeing different members getting censured, all in hopes of intimidating and kind of distracting from the Epstein files, and I look forward to my day in court so I can prove myself and actually state the truth.”
She continued by framing the federal charges as part of a broader racial attack:
“But if this is what Congress is becoming, where they’re always trying to intimidate… They use scare tactics, especially attacking minorities, Black and brown people, then we’re gonna have to keep fighting for the district.”
Cherfilus-McCormick went on to claim she has the support of her constituents and vowed to continue serving, insisting her district still needs “fair prices, housing, and fair representation in Congress.”
Her response marks a familiar pattern in Washington: when faced with damning accusations, some lawmakers deflect by alleging political targeting or racism rather than addressing the charges head-on. But the details outlined by federal prosecutors paint a far more straightforward picture — one of a member of Congress allegedly siphoning taxpayer-funded relief money intended to help Americans during a pandemic and laundering it into her own political campaign.
As the case moves forward, Cherfilus-McCormick will get the day in court she says she welcomes. But for now, the indictment raises serious questions about corruption, accountability, and whether the Democratic Party will continue to rally behind a member accused of stealing millions meant for emergency relief.
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