2026-03-27 / 美国东部时间上午11:05 / CBS新闻
华盛顿— 众议院伦理委员会周五表示，针对民主党众议员谢拉·切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克（Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick）的多数指控”已被证实”，但表示将在国会即将到来的4月休会后，再就任何可能的纪律处分提出建议。
这位代表佛罗里达州的民主党议员被指控挪用500万美元联邦疫情救济资金，并将其中部分资金用于支持她的国会竞选活动。她于11月被联邦指控起诉，并已 pleaded not guilty（不认罪）。
该委员会的这一宣布，是在其举行罕见公开听证会的一天之后。该听证会旨在确定任何被指控的违规行为”是否有明确且令人信服的证据证实”。听证会由一个由八名共和党和民主党众议院成员组成的裁决小组委员会主持，该小组委员会随后裁定，在27项被指控的违规行为中，除两项外均已被证实。
众议院共和党人正推动将切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克驱逐出国会，因为这些指控。伦理委员会的调查结果可能会支持这一努力。在4月休会后召开的全会上，委员会可能会建议对这位佛罗里达州议员实施驱逐等处罚。这一举措可能会导致民主党人支持她被罢免。
已有至少一名民主党议员，来自华盛顿州的玛丽·格鲁森坎普-佩雷斯（Marie Gluesenkamp Perez）众议员，表明切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克不应再担任国会议员。
“你不能通过犯罪手段获得合法权力。既然她被判有罪，就应该辞职或被罢免，”她在社交媒体上写道。
一直领导推动驱逐切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克的佛罗里达州共和党众议员格雷格·斯蒂布尔（Greg Steube）周四在X平台（原推特）上发文称，他已准备好推进罢免这位民主党女议员的工作。
如果众议院投票将切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克从国会除名，她将成为第七位被驱逐的众议院议员。2023年，在众议院伦理委员会一份报告称其存在”实质性证据”表明其违法并卷入涉及财务的”复杂非法活动网络”后，下议院投票罢免了陷入困境的共和党人乔治·桑托斯（George Santos）。桑托斯面临近24项与欺诈和非法使用竞选资金有关的联邦指控。他于2024年承认电汇欺诈和身份盗窃罪名，但特朗普总统于去年10月赦免了他的刑罚。
在切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克案中，伦理委员会调查人员于12月采纳了一份59页的所谓违规行为陈述，其中详细列出了一项涉嫌竞选资金计划。调查小组委员会在报告中称，已确定有”充分理由相信”这位女议员存在不当行为。
该报告揭示了切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克在2018年和2020年两次竞选失败后，为支持其国会竞选所做的努力。她于2022年通过特别选举当选，代表佛罗里达州第20国会选区，接替2021年去世的民主党已故众议员阿尔西·哈斯廷斯（Alcee Hastings）。
在周四的听证会上，切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克的律师试图将委员会的任何行动推迟到她的刑事审判之后，但未获成功，并警告称继续推进程序将危及这位女议员获得公正审判的权利。
联邦检察官指控切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克和几名同谋者窃取救灾资金、洗钱，然后将资金用于支持她2021年的国会竞选活动。根据起诉书，这些指控与佛罗里达州应急管理局向Trinity Healthcare Services公司多支付的500多万美元有关。Trinity Healthcare由女议员的母亲和继父共同创立，并与该州签订了一份协助新冠疫苗登记的合同。
检察官称，切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克和她的兄弟没有将多付的资金返还，而是将资金转移到几个其他银行账户以”掩盖其来源”，并将超过100万美元转移到与切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克国会竞选活动相关的账户。
美国司法部还表示，这位女议员为自己购买了一枚3.14克拉的黄色钻石戒指，并虚报商业支出和慈善捐款以减轻纳税义务。
这位代表佛罗里达州的民主党人否认有任何不当行为，并声称起诉是”虚假的”。
在对切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克所谓不当行为的调查中，伦理委员会表示，已发现”大量证据表明其行为与起诉书中的指控一致，且存在更多广泛的不当行为”。除了确认数百万美元的多付资金外，众议院调查人员还列出了几个选举周期中竞选财务报告不准确和不完整的指控模式，包括将不当捐款虚假申报为个人贷款、接受不当捐款以及虚增手头现金数额。
议员们在报告中称，流向她竞选活动的交易时间与切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克的医疗保健公司资金转账时间吻合，并指控她使用多付的资金购买奢侈品，包括蒂芙尼（Tiffany & Co.）的珠宝、一辆特斯拉汽车和名牌服装。
尽管这位佛罗里达州民主党人最初配合了委员会的调查，但最终她援引了第五修正案反对自我归罪的权利。她的律师表示，切尔菲卢斯-麦科马克对这些指控和报告提出异议。
Ethics panel finds most violations proven against Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Democrat accused of stealing FEMA funds
2026-03-27 / 11:05 AM EDT / CBS News
Washington— The House Ethics Committee on Friday said it has found most of the allegations against Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick “had been proven,” but said it would wait to recommend any possible disciplinary action until after Congress’ upcoming April recess.
The Florida Democrat is accused of stealing $5 million in federal pandemic relief funds and using some of the money to boost her congressional campaign. She was indicted in November on federal charges and has pleaded not guilty.
The announcement from the panel came one day after it held a rare public hearing into the accusations against Cherfilus-McCormick to determine whether any of the alleged violations “had been proven by clear and convincing evidence.” The hearing was held by an adjudicatory subcommittee made up of eight Republican and Democratic House members, which went on to determine that all but two of the 27alleged violations had been proven.
House Republicans are pushing to expel Cherfilus-McCormick from Congress because of the allegations, and the findings by the Ethics Committee could bolster that effort. When the full committee reconvenes for a hearing following the April recess to discuss any potential sanctions against the Florida Democrat, it could recommend expulsion as a punishment. Such a move could lead Democrats to support her removal from the House.
Already, at least one Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, has indicated that Cherfilus-McCormick should no longer serve in Congress.
“You can’t crime your way into legitimate power. Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed,” she wrote on social media.
Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida, who has been leading the push to oust Cherfilus-McCormick, said in a post on X on Thursday that he is prepared to move forward with an effort to expel the Democratic congresswoman.
If the House votes to remove Cherfilus-McCormick from Congress, she would be just the seventh House member to be expelled. The lower chamber voted in 2023 to oust embattled Republican George Santos from Congress after a report from the House Ethics Committee found there was “substantial evidence” he broke the law and engaged in a “complex web” of illegal activity involving his finances. Santos was indicted on nearly two dozen federal charges related to alleged fraud and illegal use of campaign funds. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft in 2024, but President Trump commuted his sentence last October.
In the case involving Cherfilus-McCormick, Ethics Committee investigators had adopted in December a 59-page statement of alleged violations, which laid out an alleged campaign-finance scheme. The investigative subcommittee said in the report that it had determined there was “substantial reason to believe” the congresswoman engaged in wrongdoing.
The report shed new light on Cherfilus-McCormick’s efforts to bolster her congressional campaign after two unsuccessful bids in 2018 and 2020. She was elected to represent Florida’s 20th Congressional District in a special election in 2022, replacing the late Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Democrat, following his death in 2021.
During Thursday’s hearing, Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyer unsuccessfully sought to postpone any action by the panel until after her criminal trial and warned that moving forward with the poceeding would jeopardize the congresswoman’s right to a fair trial.
Federal prosecutors have accused Cherfilus-McCormick and several co-conspirators of stealing disaster funds, laundering the proceeds and then using the money to support her 2021 campaign for Congress. The charges relate to more than $5 million in overpayments to Trinity Healthcare Services from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, according to the indictment. Trinity Healthcare was co-founded by the congresswoman’s mother and stepfather, and had received a contract from the state to assist with COVID-19 vaccine registration.
Prosecutors said that instead of returning the money that was overpaid, Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother moved the funds to several other bank accounts to “disguise its source,” and transferred more than $1 million to accounts tied to Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional campaign.
The Justice Department also said that the congresswoman bought herself a 3.14-carat yellow diamond ring and falsely inflated business expenses and charitable contributions to reduce her tax liability.
The Florida Democrat has denied wrongdoing and claimed the indictment is a “sham.”
In its own investigation into alleged wrongdoing by Cherfilus-McCormick, the Ethics Committee said it found “substantial evidence of conduct consistent with the allegations in the indictment, as well as more extensive misconduct.” In addition to identifying the millions of dollars in overpaid funds, House investigators also laid out an alleged pattern of inaccurate and incomplete campaign finance reports across several election cycles, including improper contributions falsely reported as personal loans, acceptance of improper contributions and inflated cash-on-hand numbers.
Lawmakers said in their report that the timing of transactions to her campaign aligned with transfers from Cherfilus-McCormick’s health care company and accused the congresswoman of using the overpayments to buy luxury items, including jewelry from Tiffany & Co., a Tesla and designer clothing.
While the Florida Democrat initially cooperated with the panel’s investigation, she eventually invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her lawyer said Cherfilus-McCormick disputes the allegations and the report.