Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s Ethics trial delayed after counsel withdraws

A House Ethics trial for U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has been delayed until March 26 after her initial counsel quit.

A trial had initially been set for Thursday, but the Ethics Committee announced the delay.

“Representative Cherfilus-McCormick’s counsel in the matter withdrew from representing her before the adjudicatory subcommittee, and Representative Cherfilus-McCormick asked for a brief continuance to allow her to retain new counsel,” reads a release from the House Ethics Committee. “The adjudicatory subcommittee agreed to that request.”

She has been represented by Washington attorney Michael Stroud.

In the meantime, that gives the Miramar Democrat a couple extra weeks to prepare for a rare trial before a panel of peers. That committee in January released a report detailing 27 counts, the most serious involving allegations she collected nearly $5.8 million in overpayments from the state of Florida and funneled most of it into her 2022 congressional campaign.

The Justice Department is also bringing federal charges against Cherfilus-McCormick, stemming from a grand jury indictment last year.

But the House Ethics Committee will also look at a number of separate charges, including allegations she took illegal campaign contributions connected to a Haitian oil company. Money, the report says, originated with Petrogaz-Haiti and went through a political action committee. That firm, while incorporated in Florida, received millions from Haiti’s Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The money ultimately was funneled into financial political support for Cherfilus-McCormick’s election and swearing-in ceremonies. The son of the owner of Petrogaz-Haiti was hired as a paid intern in Cherfilus-McCormick’s Office after her election, according to the report.

Cherfilus-McCormick has maintained her innocence and continues to seek re-election. She also said the House Ethics Committee has unfairly advanced the case at a time she cannot rebut or defend herself due to the ongoing federal case.

“I reject these allegations and remain confident the full facts will make clear I did nothing wrong,” she said when the House Ethics trial was announced. “Until then, my focus remains where it belongs: delivering for my constituents and continuing the work they sent me to Washington to do.”

Her office did not respond to questions about the change in counsel or the delay for the trial.

Stroud in January had filed a motion with the House Ethics Committee asking to dismiss all allegations or to delay all proceedings until the case brought by the Justice Department reaches its conclusion. The last trial took place in 2010, when U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, was found guilty of 11 violations.