House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and some of his rank-and-file members are articulating increasingly discordant ideas of what "due process" looks like for Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.).
Why it matters: Those divisions could spill out into public view very soon, with Cherfilus-McCormick — who has denied all wrongdoing — set to face a public House Ethics Committee hearing Thursday.
- Some Democrats are prepared to call for Cherfilus-McCormick to resign or be expelled as soon as the Ethics Committee makes its determination, Axios reported Wednesday.
- But Jeffries and his leadership team have signaled they will continue to defend Cherfilus-McCormick until the resolution of her federal criminal trial, which starts on April 20 and could go on much longer.
- This divergence has stoked internal tensions: "People have an issue on all sides, and no one's comfortable," one senior House Democrat told Axios.
Driving the news: In a closed-door House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee meeting on Tuesday, Jeffries noted the Ethics Committee often pauses its investigations while a federal prosecution into the same matter is ongoing, according to multiple lawmakers who were present.
- Jeffries "said it's not normal to have the Ethics Committee meeting [before the criminal trial]. That normally, [the Department of] Justice asks for that to be postponed until after the trial," one lawmaker told Axios.
- Jeffries' office did not respond to a request for comment.
What they're saying: Jeffries has said much the same in public, telling Punchbowl News this week, "Sheila has been charged by this Department of Justice. She is entitled to her day in court."
- House Democratic caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said at his press conference Wednesday: "In the past, the Department of Justice has asked the Ethics Committee to stand down ... that was not done here. You'd have to ask them as to why."
- Cherfilus-McCormick "has an opportunity to defend herself both from the allegations here [in Congress] as well as those in a courtroom," he said. "After the conclusion of those ... we will have conversations."
Yes, but: The nature of the allegations against Cherfilus-McCormick is of such an explosive and sensitive nature that some Democrats feel compelled to eject her sooner rather than later.
- She is accused both by the Ethics Committee and in her federal indictment of laundering a $5 million FEMA overpayment to her family's health care company and using it to fund her congressional campaign.
- Additional allegations include tax fraud and campaign finance violations. She faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted at trial.
- Cherfilus-McCormick has denied all the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the federal criminal charges against her. "I am innocent and I am a fighter. ... I will continue to fight for the people I was elected to serve," she said in a statement to Axios.
What we're hearing: "People are going to come out" after the Ethics Committee process concludes rather than wait until a judicial verdict, one House Democrat predicted.
- The lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal dynamics, said "there will be a lot of pressure on us to actually do something there, especially based on our recent positions on things."
- A second House Democrat similarly told Axios that when a lawmaker is "accused of abusing their office and there is strong evidence that that is an accurate accusation, found through some kind of internal process, there should be an urgency to take the office away."
- The political office, this lawmaker said, "is the weapon of the crime."
The bottom line: House Republicans hold just a 217 to 214 majority, giving every premature vacancy an outsized impact on key votes.
- That dynamic has led congressional leaders in both parties to defend their rank-and-file lawmakers even when they face criminal trouble or accusations of misconduct.
