Democrats built their careers claiming to help disaster victims and the most vulnerable Americans.
But their actions behind closed doors tell a completely different story.
And Pam Bondi dropped the hammer on a Democrat who got caught red-handed doing one crime that left Americans disgusted.
Florida Democrat accused of stealing $5 million meant for COVID victims
Attorney General Pam Bondi just handed down a federal indictment that exposes everything wrong with how Democrats operate.
Florida Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick stands accused of stealing $5 million in FEMA disaster relief funds and funneling the money straight into her 2021 congressional campaign.¹
https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1991306995366756653?s=20
The money was supposed to help COVID-19 victims get vaccinated.
Instead, prosecutors say Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother Edwin used their family healthcare company to pocket the funds, launder them through multiple accounts, and then route the cash to her campaign through straw donors — friends and relatives who pretended the money came from their own pockets.²
"Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime," Bondi said.³
"No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice."⁴
If convicted, Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison.⁵
Her brother could get 35 years.⁶
This wasn't some innocent accounting error.
Federal prosecutors in Miami say the operation was deliberate — designed to hide the source of the stolen funds and disguise them as legitimate campaign contributions.⁷
The indictment also charges Cherfilus-McCormick and her tax preparer with filing a false federal tax return by claiming political spending and personal expenses as business deductions while inflating charitable contributions to reduce her tax burden.⁸
That $5 million FEMA overpayment landed in the family company's account in July 2021 — right when Cherfilus-McCormick was gearing up for her special election campaign to replace the late Rep. Alcee Hastings.⁹
https://twitter.com/RepGregSteube/status/1991525804476354920?s=20
She won that race by just five votes after personally loaning her campaign more than $6 million.¹⁰
Now federal prosecutors are connecting the dots on exactly where millions of those dollars came from.
Years of red flags Democrats ignored
This indictment didn't come out of nowhere.
The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick back in December 2023 after the Office of Congressional Ethics found "substantial reason to believe" she violated campaign finance laws and accepted contributions linked to official actions.¹¹
Her income mysteriously jumped by more than $6 million in 2021 — the same year the FEMA overpayment hit her family company's accounts.¹²
Nearly $5.75 million of that windfall came from consulting and profit-sharing fees paid by Trinity Healthcare Services, the family company at the center of the fraud allegations.¹³
Florida's Division of Emergency Management sued Trinity in December 2024, claiming the company overcharged the state by $5.8 million for pandemic work and refused to return the money.¹⁴
That lawsuit reached a settlement in April requiring Trinity to pay back $5.62 million over 15 years — proving the company couldn't even return the stolen money without a payment plan.¹⁵
Cherfilus-McCormick was Trinity's CEO when all this went down.¹⁶
She only resigned from that position after getting elected to Congress in early 2022.¹⁷
But the damage was already done.
While Americans struggled through lockdowns and desperately needed help accessing COVID vaccines, Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly saw nothing but a political piggy bank she could raid to fund her congressional ambitions.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube announced he'll file a motion to censure Cherfilus-McCormick and strip her of all committee assignments.¹⁸
"This is one of the most egregious abuses of public trust I have ever seen," Steube wrote.¹⁹
"Stealing $5 million in taxpayer disaster funds from FEMA of all places is beyond indefensible. Millions of Floridians have relied on FEMA after devastating hurricanes, and that money was supposed to help real disaster victims."²⁰
FBI Director Kash Patel didn't mince words either, posting that Cherfilus-McCormick and her family "allegedly stole money from FEMA and then laundered it through friends toward her own personal benefits — including her campaign."²¹
This case perfectly captures the Democrat playbook — wrap yourself in rhetoric about helping the vulnerable while picking taxpayers' pockets to advance your own political career.
FEMA funds exist to help Americans survive natural disasters and public health emergencies.
Democrats like Cherfilus-McCormick treat those funds like their own personal campaign war chest.
And they count on voters not connecting the dots until it's too late.
Pam Bondi's DOJ is making sure those days are over.
¹ U.S. Department of Justice, "South Florida Congresswoman Charged with Stealing $5 Million in FEMA Funds and Making Illegal Campaign Contributions," November 19, 2025.
² – ⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Anthony Man and Angie Dimichele, "U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick accused of stealing millions in FEMA funds, feds say," South Florida Sun Sentinel, November 19, 2025.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Zoë Richards and Kyle Stewart, "Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick charged with stealing $5 million in FEMA funds, making illegal campaign contributions," NBC News, November 19, 2025.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Holmes Lybrand, "Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick indicted on charges of stealing $5M in disaster funds," CNN, November 19, 2025.
¹⁵ "Watchdog refers House Democrat embroiled in ethics controversies to DOJ," Washington Examiner, July 17, 2025.
¹⁶ Man and Dimichele, South Florida Sun Sentinel.
¹⁷ Ibid.
¹⁸ Jake Dima, "Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Immediately Hit With Censure Threat," The Daily Caller, November 20, 2025.
¹⁹ Ibid.
²⁰ Ibid.
²¹ Ibid.
