[[File:Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Official Portrait.jpg|Congresswoman_Sheila_Cherfilus-McCormick_Official_Portrait]] Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick appeared before the House Ethics Committee on Thursday in a rare public hearing to face allegations she stole millions in federal disaster funds and used them to bolster her 2021 campaign. The ethics trial places renewed attention on how Congress polices its own members. This is separate from criminal proceedings underway against Cherfilus-McCormick. “The allegations before us are extremely serious. They not only concern an individual member’s conduct; they also implicate the public’s confidence in the house’s integrity as an institution,” said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of California, the top Democrat on the committee, acknowledging the severity of the allegations against the Florida congresswoman. “Today, at a time when public confidence in our institution is so low, this committee’s role in enforcing the congressional ethics process and defending the integrity of the House could not be more important,” he continued. “We’re not in a court of law. We’re not dealing in a criminal matter. We are a body that’s unique unto itself. We’re dealing with rules. We’re not dealing with any type of criminal adjudication, I want to just push back on that a little bit that we are not violating her constitutional rights,” Republican Rep. Brad Knott of North Carolina said. In November, the Justice Department indicted Cherfilus-McCormick on charges, with prosecutors accusing her of stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency overpayments that her family health care company had received through a federally funded Covid-19 vaccination staffing contract. Prosecutors allege that some of those funds were then used to benefit her campaign through candidate contributions. The congresswoman, who is serving her second full term in office, pleaded not guilty to those charges last month. At the time of the indictment, Attorney General Pam Bondi called the alleged conduct “a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” saying that “no one is above the law.” In a previously issued report, the Office of Congressional Ethics found that Cherfilus-McCormick’s income in 2021 was more than $6 million higher than in 2020, driven by nearly $5.75 million in consulting and profit-sharing fees received for work for Trinity Healthcare Services. The House Ethics Committee voted unanimously in July to reauthorize an investigative subcommittee for the 119th Congress to examine allegations involving the congresswoman. She is still in Congress. The post House Ethics Trial for Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick Who Faces a $5M Theft Charge appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.