By Merrilee Gasser
The Center Square

U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, indicted on charges of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of it for her campaign, said Thursday she is innocent and has no plans to resign.

In the meantime, she will step down from her position as the top Democrat on a subcommittee in the House of Representatives, as required by caucus rules, House Democratic leaders said.

The indictment, announced Wednesday, accuses Cherfilus-McCormick of stealing an overpayment of $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds made to her family’s health care company through a contract to register people for COVID-19 vaccinations. Prosecutors say some of the funds were funneled to friends and family who then donated the money to her 2021 campaign. They also accuse her of conspiring to file a false tax return.

Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment – and I am innocent,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a statement Thursday. “The timing alone is curious and clearly meant to distract from far more pressing national issues. From day one, I have fully cooperated with every lawful request, and I will continue to do so until this matter is resolved.”

Miami-based attorneys David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss and Melissa Madrigal are defending her in the case.

She will relinquish her position as a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, according to the office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. The Democratic caucus requires indicted members to give up committee leadership positions.

“Consistent with the United States Constitution, she is entitled to her day in court and the presumption of innocence,” Jeffries spokeswoman Christie Stephenson said in a statement Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., said he plans to force an expulsion vote if she does not resign from Congress.

“Cherfilus-McCormick needs to be swiftly removed from the House before she can inflict any more harm on Congress, her district, and the state of Florida,” Steube posted to social media.

Cherfilus-McCormick, elected to the U.S. House in 2022, represents the 20th District, which includes parts of Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach County.

The House Ethics Committee voted in July to allow an investigative subcommittee to continue studying the allegations against her.