Democratic congresswoman resigns after campaign

Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from Congress following an investigation that found she committed more than 20 ethics violations, including violating campaign finance laws.

Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of illegally funneling US disaster relief into her election campaign and spending the money on luxury purchases, including a $109,000 (£81,660) 3-carat yellow diamond ring.

The announcement made her the third member of Congress in the past week to resign after allegations of misconduct and a possible vote to expel him from the U.S. House of Representatives.

He denied the charges and vowed to clear his name.

“Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away,” the congresswoman said in a social media post, announcing her resignation and calling the congressional ethics investigation a “witch hunt.”

Cherfilus-McCormick, elected to Congress in 2022, had faced the prospect of a rare congressional vote to expel her after the House Ethics Committee released its findings.

In her statement, Cherfilus-McCormick said the commission did not allow her lawyer to adequately prepare her defense and began the investigation while she was fighting a criminal case, which ultimately “prevented me from defending myself.”

His departure follows the resignations of two other members of Congress who were at risk of being expelled.

Representatives Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a Republican, both resigned last week before the deportation proceedings could move forward. Both were accused of sexual misconduct.

The last member of Congress forced to leave the lower house was New York Republican George Santos in 2023, his first expulsion in 20 years.

Cherfilus-McCormick resigned minutes before the House Ethics Committee met and made a recommendation on punishment for the 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards the committee determined she committed.

When the committee met, it read his letter of resignation and adjourned. The committee no longer had jurisdiction, as Cherfilus-McCormick was no longer a legislator.

Cherfilus-McCormick also faces federal charges for allegedly stealing $5m (£3.8m) from Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) disaster funds.

She and another person named in federal charging documents allegedly diverted funds from a Fema contract to friends and relatives, who donated the money to her campaign as purported personal contributions, prosecutors said.

The trial was postponed until February 2027.

If convicted, she faces up to 53 years in prison.

Last week, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he thought Cherfilus-McCormick’s fate was sealed on Capitol Hill.

“The ethics committee looked at all of its processes and found some alarming facts,” he said. “I think the facts are indisputable at this point.”

The committee found “clear and convincing evidence” that Cherfilus-McCormick violated House rules, it said.

Before her resignation, House Democratic leaders had refrained from publicly criticizing Cherfilus-McCormick, saying they would wait to see the ethics committee’s recommendation.

On Tuesday, the top Democrat in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, said: “He did the right thing on behalf of his constituents.”

[BBC]

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