For those of you upset that Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly used your taxpayer money to win herself an election, please note that she didn’t just use it for that.
Instead, of the $5 million overpayment of COVID-era disaster relief to a healthcare company controlled by her family didn’t merely win her the seat of the late Alcee Hastings. No, that was only $1.14 million of it. And even some of that went to purchasing a 3.14-carat yellow diamond ring.
On Tuesday, as the Miami Herald reported, Cherfilus-McCormick appeared in a Miami courtroom to surrender to the court regarding the 15-count indictment against her. She’s charged with — deep breath — “theft of government funds, money laundering, making and receiving straw-donor contributions, and making false statements on a tax return.”
“Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett set two bonds under an agreement between federal prosecutors and the defense team: a $25,000 personal surety bond and a separate $35,000 bond. Cherfilus-McCormick was expected to be released Tuesday afternoon after making a $1,750 down payment on the latter bond,” the Herald reported.
Naturally, the representative’s lawyers focused on what was important here: the fact that the Department of Justice had gone ahead and secured the indictment of a POC for allegedly stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency funds!
“The federal government and DOJ decided to indict a black Democratic congresswoman without giving her attorneys the opportunity to meet with them and to discuss the circumstances,” said Cherfilus-McCormick lawyer Lauren Krasnoff as she briefed the media.
“I think if there is anything that we have learned in recent times, it is that this government is willing to charge and indict and arrest somebody without actual evidence,” she added.
“The congresswoman is innocent, and we are going to prove that.”
It’s worth noting, first, that Cherfilus-McCormick has been under investigation since 2022 and has had every opportunity possible to present the reason why these transactions were innocent, if they really were. Race and discrimination are both red herrings here, and quite smelly ones at that.
And second, it’s too worth noting that this isn’t small potatoes. As part of a plan to get herself elected to Congress, the DOJ alleges that she “conspired to steal that $5 million and routed it through multiple accounts to disguise its source.”
“According to the indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and her brother Edwin Cherfilus, 51, both of Miramar, worked through their family health-care company on a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract in 2021. In July 2021, the company received an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA funds,” the DOJ said in a media release last week.
“The indictment further alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc, 46, of Miramar, arranged additional contributions using straw donors, funneling other monies from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 contract to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money.”
Furthermore, they have a pretty good breakdown of where this $5 million went. From the Miami Herald:
According to the indictment, those transfers included:
- A $2.4 million check to the bank account of Cherfilus-McCormick’s consulting company;
- A $1.2 million bank transfer to an account controlled by relatives of Cherfilus-McCormick;
- An $830,000 transfer into another account for which the congresswoman was an authorized signer;
- A $334,000 deposit into the bank account of Leblanc, who is accused of having coordinated straw-donor contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional campaign starting in June 2021.
- And a $190,000 deposit to a bank account linked to the consulting company of the congresswoman’s brother.
In the flashiest detail of the filing, the indictment accuses the congresswoman of using $109,000 of the funds — moved through bank accounts she controlled — to purchase a 3.14-carat “Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond” ring on Sept. 1, 2021, about two months after the state’s overpayment to her healthcare company.
REPORT: Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who is accused of stealing $5M of FEMA funds, allegedly used the money to purchase a $109,000 3.14-carat yellow diamond ring.
Here is where the $5 million went, according to the Miami Herald:
– $2.4 million to… pic.twitter.com/qKROTGRdWm
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 25, 2025
Apparently, “diamonds are forever” is only an advertising slogan and doesn’t work when you’re indicted.
That being said, she didn’t have to surrender it to get out of prison, with a $25,000 personal surety bond and another $35,000 bond good enough for the judge. She had to surrender her personal passport, but the 46-year-old will keep her congressional passport. However, she cannot travel outside of the Southern District of Florida or Washington, D.C., and its suburbs.
Innocent until proven guilty, etc., but the Cherfilus-McCormick saga is more evidence that the Democrats aren’t, to paraphrase President Donald Trump, sending their best.
California Rep. Eric Swalwell, now running for governor of America’s most populous state? Yeah, he probably had sexual relations with a Chinese spy. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota? She allegedly married her brother to get him naturalized and then ran off with one of the guys she was paying to run her campaign (and so handsomely that it practically looked like legalized fraud).
Democratic Tennessee state Rep. Aftyn Behn, who now wants to become a U.S. representative in a special election that’s hotly watched? She hates her own district and broke down hysterically crying after she was dragged out of the governor’s office for trespassing. Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett? Which day of the week is it?
And these are the figures that are nationally known. Scratch the surface and you’ll find worse. Thus, being accused of both stealing $5 million from the taxpayers and bad taste in rings (at least by me) is hardly the lousiest thing a Democrat has done as of late.
That’s saying something, of course, and if she’s convicted she should face the maximum — but it’s only shocking, and not surprising in the slightest.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
