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Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was slapped with a savage community note on X after a $109,000, 3-carat yellow diamond ring she’s accused of buying with ill-gotten FEMA funds was conspicuously edited out of a photo.
Eagle-eyed X sleuths noticed the pricey, square-cut bauble was missing from a Christmas post from the South Florida Democrat, which bore her official congressional portrait — and a naked left ring finger.
“This portrait of Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick has been altered to remove a ring off of her left hand that she bought using $109K of stolen FEMA funds,” the community note said.
The three-term congresswoman, 46, was indicted last month for allegedly stealing $5 million in FEMA funds to support her 2021 congressional campaign. She has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee since December 2023.
She and several co-defendants, including her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, 51, “conspired to steal” an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA funds their family health care company received in July 2021 as part of a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract, prosecutors said.
The ring was missing from Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s finger in a Christmas post. Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, /XThe 3.14-carat “Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond” ring was purchased with a cashiers’ check by the scandal-scarred pol in September 2021 – about two months after the overpayments, authorities alleged.
While it wasn’t immediately clear whether the ring in Cherfilus-McCormick’s official photo is the same as the one mentioned in the indictment, they both appear to be similar.
The Post has sought comment from her legal team and her House office.
The overpayments came through a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract, but the lawmaker instead used the money to also help fund her 2021 congressional campaign, federal prosecutors alleged.
Cherfilus-McCormick is facing charges of theft of government funds, making and receiving straw donor contributions, aiding and assisting a false and fraudulent statement on a tax return and money laundering.
She’s also facing a conspiracy charge attached to each of those counts, and could spend decades in prison if found guilty.
Her brother, ex-chief of staff and accountant are also facing charges in the alleged scheme that conspired to steal up to $5 million.
The congresswoman’s official portrait prominently features the ring in question. Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, /XCherfilus has denied all wrongdoing in the case.
“Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick is a committed public servant, who is dedicated to her constituents. We will fight to clear her good name,” her attorneys David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss and Melissa Madrigal said in a statement last month.
X users wasted little time taking shots at the congresswoman and the ring-less portrait.
A chorus of social media commentators replied to the holiday message asking where her ring was while others relished the community note.
“One helluva community note. You must be proud,” one account wrote while another wrote, “Community note is crazy.”
With Post wires
English (US)