Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and her mystery money

The phrase “political ethics” should not be an oxymoronic punch line, and laws are in place to prevent that. But any law is no better than the extent to which it’s obeyed and enforced, and in South Florida, we see a glaring example of willful disrespect.

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the Democratic nominee in the Jan. 11 special election in Congressional District 20, has not complied with a law requiring candidates to disclose to the clerk of the House of Representatives key aspects of their personal finances. Those financial disclosures are posted online for voters to review, and the law applies once candidates raise or spend $5,000. She passed that financial milestone long ago.

Whatever Cherfilus-McCormick is hiding might explain how she was able to lend her campaign a staggering $3.7 million on her way to winning the recent Democratic primary by a scant five votes out of 49,082 votes cast over runner-up Dale Holness. She eventually repaid herself some $2 million, but by then, her huge deposit discouraged donors from helping Holness and other candidates.

That hair-splitting outcome unquestionably owed much to her enormous campaign ante, which paid for a barrage of television ads. But the voters deserve to know exactly how she came by so much mystery money.

The last word from her campaign on Sept. 30 was that “we are working on the finance disclosure form and have requested an extension in submitting it.” The U.S. House Clerk routinely posts extension requests. As of Nov. 18, there was no disclosure or posted request for an extension. We reached her by phone Wednesday. She said she would call back but didn’t.

Mystery money

Did her mystery money come from money borrowed from elsewhere? If so, from whom? Is it from savings? Investments? Is it income from her employment as CEO of a home health care agency? What personal wealth or connections would provide such resources, and what potential conflicts of interest might they entail?

Those are among the questions meant to be answered by the disclosure required under the Ethics in Government Act before the voters pass judgment on a candidate. Members of the House and their employees must also file annually.

Cherfilus-McCormick is a repeat offender. In 2018, when she ran in a Democratic primary against Rep. Alcee Hastings, who died in April and whom she seeks to replace, she filed nothing with the clerk but a request for an extension. In her Federal Election Commission filings, she reported lending herself only $7,450 for the 2018 campaign. What explains the enormous increase this time?

The House has no authority over candidates until they are elected, at which point the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, chaired by Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, can and often does prompt delinquent members to file reports. Republican Rep. John Rutherford of Jacksonville is also an ethics committee member.

Members are also subject to investigation by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. It reports having initiated 226 investigations since its inception 12 years ago, of which it referred 92 to the House. They dealt mostly with allegations of false or incomplete annual reports and stock transaction disclosures, and the panel recently announced further investigations against four members over stock trades, improper use of campaign funds and awarding contracts to an aide’s relatives.

But no record can be found of a candidate who’s not yet a member being disciplined for withholding the required pre-election disclosure. That failure is conspicuous.

Power to prosecute

The law gives the U.S. attorney general power to prosecute willful violations, punishable by up to a year in prison and a $62,313 fine. No one seems to remember that happening, either.

The seat Hastings held for nearly three decades has been vacant since his death last April, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents of South Florida with no political representation.

Voters will choose on Jan. 11 among Cherfilus-McCormick, Republican Jason Mariner, Libertarian candidate Mike ter Maat and two candidates with no party affiliation, Jim Flynn and Leonard Serratore. The deadline to register to vote in this election is Dec. 13.

The 20th district, in Broward and Palm Beach counties, is one of the most heavily Democratic in the country, so Cherfilus-McCormick’s election is virtually assured. That’s all the more reason why she must obey the law and disclose her personal finances sooner rather than later.

The House of Representatives could refuse to seat her if she has still not complied with the law after the election is decided, but there has been an unwritten understanding between the two parties to never set that example.

What good is a law that’s not enforced? So what say you, Attorney General Merrick Garland? Ignoring an ethics law is no laughing matter.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.