How a Democrat Allegedly Used DEI and Bureaucracy to Commit Fraud and Attain Power

The following is a preview of Daily Signal Politics Editor Bradley Devlin’s interview with Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., on the “Signal Sitdown.” The full interview premieres on the Daily Signal’s YouTube page at 6:30 a.m. EST on April 23.

In the past few weeks, Rep. Greg Steube was leading the charge to bring to the House floor a vote to expel now-former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. Minutes before Steube was set to join the “Signal Sitdown” — and the same day the Ethics Committee was expected to render a recommendation to the House on whether to expel the Florida congresswoman over fraud allegations — Cherfilus-McCormick announced she was resigning her seat in Congress, effective immediately.

On this episode of the “Signal Sitdown,” Steube, R-Fla., peels back the curtain on the investigation that ultimately resulted in Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation. What he describes, based on investigations conducted by the Office of Congressional Ethics, the House Ethics Committee, and the Department of Justice, is an alleged plot to take advantage of DEI in the federal and state bureaucracy to commit fraud and attain and maintain political power.

In late March, the House Ethics Committee found Cherfilus-McCormick had committed 25 of the 27 alleged violations brought against her, including charges described as “money laundering.” Specifically, embezzling $5 million in funds from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, for which FEMA provides a vast majority of the funding.

“Here’s what’s so offensive: As a Floridian, my district’s been hit by six hurricanes in two years, and my constituents rely upon FEMA funds to be able to just restore their livelihood after their entire house was destroyed in a hurricane,” Steube told the Daily Signal.

“To have a member of the Florida delegation steal $5 million from FEMA, from the taxpayers in the great state of Florida is truly offensive.”

“She stole the $5 million, laundered the money through different LLCs affiliated with her family, and then put $2 million into her campaign account, which is a significant fraud,” Steube explained.

Steube became engaged in, and enraged by, the Cherfilus-McCormick allegations after the Department of Justice announced its indictment in November 2025. The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury in Miami, alleged Cherfilus-McCormick had embezzled $5 million in FEMA funding.

“After the indictment hit alleging and detailing the evidence of these 15 counts, which is significant, in my opinion as a lawyer, and her refusal to resign, I immediately filed the resolution to have her expelled,” Steube recalled. “The ethics committee told me that they’ve been investigating her for two years.”

“Shortly after the indictment, [the House Ethics Committee] released their report that detailed not just the felonious activity as it relates to the FEMA funds but the ethics violations that she has committed,” Steube continued.

The House Ethics Committee’s Statement of Alleged Violations claims that Cherfilus-McCormick courted money from the Florida Division of Emergency Management using her identity as a black, female business owner and “a diverse pool of… employees.”

“Twenty five ethics violations she’s been found guilty of, and the 15 felonies that she’s been charged with, I think it’s smart for her to resign,” Steube said. “She should have done it after the indictment.”

In a press release announcing her resignation, Cherfilus-McCormick claimed, “This was not a fair process.”

“By going forward with this process while a criminal indictment is pending, the Committee prevented me from defending myself,” the former congresswoman added. “I will not stand by and pretend that this has been anything other than a witch hunt. I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished.”

As for why Cherfilus-McCormick chose to resign now, rather than earlier in this year’s long process, Steube said, “I think she just didn’t want to put her Democratic colleagues through having to decide” on an expulsion vote. “That could be a real challenging political issue in the midterms,” Steube added.

“I’m glad she’s not in the house anymore,” the Florida congressman said. “She doesn’t deserve to be here.”

Cherfilus-McCormick is far from out of the woods yet. While her resignation brings an end to the House Ethics Committee’s investigation, the Department of Justice is proceeding with its criminal indictment. Cherfilus-McCormick faces 53 years in prison, and the trial is slated to begin early next year.

The Daily Signal attempted to contact Cherfilus-McCormick for comment but did not receive a response.