committee

March 27 (UPI) — An ethics adjudicatory subcommittee found Friday that 25 of 27 charges of ethics violations against Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., had been “proven by clear and convincing evidence.”

“Following the hearing, the adjudicatory subcommittee moved into executive session to deliberate. After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the [Statement of Alleged Violations] had been proven,” the release from the Committee on Ethics said.

Cherfilus-McCormick, who maintains her innocence, was indicted in November on the federal charges along with her brother, Edwin Cherfilus.

The representative’s family owns Trinity Healthcare Services. The company had a FEMA-funded contract to register people for COVID-19 vaccines, but in July 2021 was accidentally overpaid by $5 million by a Florida agency, the indictment said. Instead of returning the funds, Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly moved the money to different accounts “to disguise its source,” the Justice Department said. She then allegedly used some of the funds to finance her campaign.

The full ethics committee is scheduled to have a hearing when the House comes back from its two week recess beginning Friday, “to determine what, if any, sanction would be appropriate for the Committee to recommend,” Ethics Chair Michael Guest, R-Miss., and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., said in a joint statement.

The hearing lasted nearly seven hours Thursday night.

Cherfilus-McCormick has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in a federal criminal case.

William Barzee, Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyer, argued that the facts in the committee’s motion were in dispute and that the federal charges kept her from responding to the Ethics panel because of concerns about self-incrimination in the trial.

Barzee argued in the hearing that there was evidence of a “profit-sharing agreement” for the family company, which means she was “entitled to every single penny that she received” from her family’s company after the improper payment. Lawmakers appeared skeptical of that argument and of the evidence of a profit-sharing agreement.

The committee said Cherfilus-McCormick failed to file accurate financial disclosure forms, accepted improper campaign contributions from others and provided special favors in connection with community project funding requests, The Hill reported.

The panel did not approve two of the 27 counts.

It said that Cherfilus-McCormick: “had knowledge that some or all information identified as inaccurately disclosed in numerous FEC reports filed on behalf of her campaign were false” and that she “caused her campaign to submit false records to the FEC.”

Another charge it didn’t approve was lack of candor and diligence in ethics investigations, because she missed deadlines and canceled interviews, but her lawyer said that her previous lawyer had told her not to cooperate because of the federal charges.

“You can’t crime your way into legitimate power,” Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., posted on X. “Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”

When asked if she should stay in the House, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., didn’t answer.

March 26 (UPI) — The House Ethics Committee will have a rare public hearing Thursday on allegations that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., stole $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds and used some of it to finance her campaign.

Depending on the outcome of the 2 p.m. EDT hearing, the committee could recommend expulsion from the House of Representatives. While House Republicans are already trying to oust her, Democrats are waiting to see what the hearing reveals.

“We believe that Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick has an opportunity to defend herself both from the allegations here under the dome as well as those in a courtroom,” The Hill reported Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. “After the conclusion of those, we will see what happens.”

Cherfilus-McCormick, who maintains her innocence, was indicted in November on the federal charges along with her brother, Edwin Cherfilus.

“This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment — and I am innocent,” she said in a statement. “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.”

Cherfilus-McCormick has tried to postpone the hearing because she is unable to speak freely due to the pending federal case.

“While I am limited in what I can address due to an ongoing federal matter, I have cooperated fully within those constraints,” The Hill reported she said. “I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight and challenge these inaccuracies when I am legally able to do so.”

She requested the committee “follow its own precedents and uphold fairness and not allow this process to be driven by politics or numbers.”

Cherfilus-McCormick’s family owns Trinity Healthcare Services. The company had a FEMA-funded contract to register people for COVID-19 vaccines, but in July 2021 was accidentally overpaid by $5 million by a Florida agency, the indictment said. Instead of returning the funds, Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly moved the money to different accounts “to disguise its source,” the Justice Department said. She then allegedly used some of the funds to finance her campaign.

The hearing will be conducted by an adjudicatory committee made up of four Democrats and four Republicans to decide if the allegations “have been proved by clear and convincing evidence” and “make findings of fact.”

The hearing will be public, according to House rules, but can be made private if the committee votes to do so. On Wednesday, the committee said it would start the hearing by considering Cherfilus-McCormick’s request to close the hearing to the public.

Cherfilus-McCormick was elected to Congress in 2022 in a special election to replace Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings, who died in 2021 from pancreatic cancer.

An investigative subcommittee had been investigating for a while before her indictment and in January released a 59-page statement of its findings.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., filed a resolution to expel her from the House but held off on forcing a vote until the subcommittee releases its findings.

“$5 million, 15 indictments — like, if she’s found guilty on all 15 of those charges, she’s going to serve 53 years in prison,” The Hill reported Steube said.

WASHINGTON — Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi was subpoenaed Tuesday to answer questions from Congress about the Justice Department’s sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and the agency’s handling of millions of files related to the disgraced financier.

Bondi was ordered to appear for a deposition on April 14 by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform after a vote earlier this month that five Republicans supported.

The Justice Department’s failure to fend off the subpoena from the Republican-led committee underscores widespread discontent among President Trump’s own base over Bondi’s management of the review and release of a trove of documents from the criminal investigation into Epstein.

“The Committee has questions regarding the Department of Justice’s handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates and its compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman, said in a letter to Bondi.

“As Attorney General, you are directly responsible for overseeing the Department’s collection, review, and determinations regarding the release of files pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and the Committee therefore believes that you possess valuable insight into these efforts,” he wrote.

The department on Tuesday called the subpoena “completely unnecessary.” Bondi and Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche were expected to provide a private briefing Wednesday to members of the committee.

“Lawmakers have been invited to view the unredacted files for themselves at the Department of Justice, and the Attorney General has always made herself available to speak directly with members of Congress,” the department said in a statement. The agency said it looks forward to “continuing to provide policymakers with the facts.”

The Trump administration has faced constant political headaches since the rollout of the files began in December, with critics accusing the department of hiding certain documents and over-redacting files. In other cases, victims have slammed the department for sloppy redactions that revealed their sensitive information.

The Justice Department has fiercely defended its handling of the Epstein files, saying it worked as quickly and diligently as possible to review and release millions of documents required under the law. The department has denied any accusations that it used redactions to protect certain people or improperly withheld certain materials. And it has said it immediately worked to fix any redaction errors raised by victims.

Richer writes for the Associated Press.

UCLA coach Cori Close has said all the right things all season, hammering the importance of winning each day and making the most of every practice.

After watching her team struggle during the Final Four last season, she also urged the Bruins to remember the joy of their journey together was far more important than the final tournament results.

She continued to run the John Wooden playbook on Selection Sunday, brushing away the suggestion that UCLA was snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee.

“Everybody else can talk about whatever they want,” Close said. “We’re going to talk about what that takes, and we are completely committed to just being really focused on us and our journey and keeping the main thing, the main thing.”

While she rightly is focusing on her team, there is no denying UCLA got a bad draw.

Not only were the Bruins denied the No. 1 overall seed despite playing a much tougher schedule than overall No. 1 seed UConn, the Bruins will have to fight through the toughest regional to reach the Final Four in Phoenix.

LSU was the highest rated No. 2 seed and Duke was the highest rated No. 3 seed. Both were assigned to the same regional as UCLA. No. 5 Ole Miss, led by Ohio State transfer and dynamic SEC newcomer of the year Cotie McMahon, is another potent team slotted in the Bruins’ side of the bracket.

“The Sacramento region with UCLA, they absolutely have the toughest region when you look at the LSU-Duke matchup — the No. 1 two seed, the No. 1 three seed,” former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said on ESPN. “I don’t know how they ended up with the same bracket as UCLA as the No. 2 overall. … I’m perplexed.”

McGraw has been doing the work Close arguably couldn’t for weeks without coming across as whining. The retired coach questioned the NCAA tournament selection’s committee previous rankings that slotted UCLA behind UConn.

On March 2, McGraw posted on X, “Does anyone else think UCLA deserved the overall [No. 1] seed? Undefeated regular season Big Ten champs, beat 11 ranked teams, six of which are currently in the committee’s top 16. They have 14 Quad 1 wins, more than anyone in the country, and their only loss was to another [No. 1] seed. And what about SEC champ South Carolina as the [No. 2] overall?

“UConn is certainly good enough to win the national championship, but UCLA and South Carolina have had as much success against a much tougher schedule.”

UConn fans were quick to point out McGraw’s losing record against Huskies coach Geno Auriemma and their bad blood, but the former Notre Dame coach was armed with notable stats that are supposed to be the basis for the selection committee’s bracket.

McGraw made her case before No. 2 UCLA (31-1) beat No. 9 Iowa (26-6) by 51 points in the Big Ten tournament championship game.

It wasn’t enough to help the selection committee ignore the score that seemed to matter the most — a 85-51 UCLA loss to UConn in last season’s Final Four.

“We watched a lot of UConn, we watched a lot of UCLA,” NCAA tournament committee chair Amanda Braun said on ESPN. “The way we watched UConn win throughout the year from beginning to the end, UCLA did a lot of winning too, but ultimately we gave UConn the edge.”

The Bruins have said every team is tough in the NCAA tournament and they must simply focus on being their best each day. Surviving a challenging regional will only make their success sweeter.

And UCLA can take solace that at least one team had a worse draw than it did on Sunday. Crosstown rival USC was awarded a No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 seed Clemson in Columbia, S.C., a short commute for the Tigers’ fans. If the Trojans survive, they most likely will face No. 1 seed South Carolina on the Gamecocks’ notoriously hostile home court.

Survey says

We asked, “How far will the UCLA women advance in the NCAA tournament?”

After 460 votes, the results:

They win it all: 80.8%
They lose in the title game: 14.6%
Just like last year, they lose in the Final Four: 3.5%
A surprising elimination in the Sweet 16: 0.9%
A shocking upset in the first or second round: 0.2%
They lose in the Elite Eight: No votes

Survey time

How far will the UCLA men advance in the tournament?

They lose in the first round
They lose in the second round
They lose in the Sweet 16
They lose in the Elite Eight
They lose in the Final Four
They lose in the title game
They win it all

Click here to vote in our survey

In case you missed it

‘We know what it takes to get there.’ No. 1 UCLA ready to begin NCAA title chase

UCLA men’s basketball earns No. 7 seed, to face No. 10 UCF in Philadelphia

NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament brackets: A look at every matchup

How Gabriela Jaquez became a breakout shooting star for No. 2 UCLA

UCLA star Jordan Chiles helps Bruins win her final home meet, knocking out rival Utah

UCLA falls to Purdue in Big Ten semifinal without injured Tyler Bilodeau

UCLA stuns Michigan State to advance to Big Ten tournament semifinals

Donovan Dent achieves Big Ten tourney history in UCLA win over Rutgers

UCLA won a Big Ten tournament title with a group of ‘Pac-12 Avengers’

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers were digging into Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling financial portfolio on Wednesday as a committee deposed his former accountant and tried to understand his connections to some of the world’s wealthiest men.

Richard Kahn, who worked closely with Epstein for years and now serves as an executor of his estate, appeared for the closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill. He told lawmakers that he had not personally seen evidence of Epstein’s sexual abuse, but provided a fuller picture of how Epstein acquired his wealth. The wealthy financier made hundreds of millions of dollars over two decades, during which he struck up friendships with some of the world’s most powerful men.

Kahn “was under the impression that Epstein made his money as a tax advisor and a financial planner,” said Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee. Lawmakers argued that a fuller picture of Epstein’s finances could help the public understand how, for years, he was able to get away with trafficking and sexually abusing underage girls.

“Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring would not have been possible without Richard Kahn, who managed Epstein’s money for years, authorized payments, including payments to victims and survivors,” said Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), who added that Kahn told them he was unable to recall details of some of the transactions and communications that he was asked about.

Kahn has said that he was unaware of Epstein’s sexual abuse and had not seen any of his victims.

Comer (R-Ky.) also said that lawmakers confirmed during the deposition that Epstein received significant amounts of money from former retail shopping chain executive Les Wexner, hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, tech entrepreneur Steven Sinofsky, investor Leon Black and the Rothschilds, a wealthy banking family.

None of those people have been accused of wrongdoing in their relationships with Epstein, but Democrats on the committee argued that anyone with ties to the wealthy financier should be scrutinized. Wexner was deposed by the committee last month, and Comer has also called on Black, among several others, to appear for transcribed interviews.

Kahn also told lawmakers that Epstein had financial ties to Ehud Barak, who was the prime minister of Israel from 1999 to 2001, according to Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam. Barak has not been accused of wrongdoing and has said he regrets his friendship with Epstein.

Comer also said Wednesday that the committee has reviewed over 40,000 documents that it subpoenaed from JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. Epstein was connected to at least 64 business entities, according to Comer.

Republican President Trump has strongly denied any wrongdoing in his own ties to Epstein, and Comer said that Kahn had never seen any financial transactions between Epstein and Trump. Comer said that Kahn is the latest witness to testify that they had never seen Trump doing anything wrong with Epstein.

“The investigation’s about getting the truth to the American people, trying to figure out how the government failed, answer questions we all have,” Comer said.

Groves writes for the Associated Press.