Jesse Scheckner
U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is taking one of her Democratic Primary challengers to court, accusing him of spreading “blatant lies” about her record and reputation.
The Broward County lawmaker filed a libel and slander lawsuit this week against Elijah Manley, a 26-year-old Fort Lauderdale resident, seeking $1 million in damages, plus legal costs.
She is also asking a Judge to bar Manley from repeating statements she says are defamatory.
“(Congresswoman) Cherfilus-McCormick has dedicated her life to public service,” her lawyer, Michael Pizzi, said in a statement.
“While she welcomes and encourages an exchange of ideas under the First Amendment, she will not allow herself, her family and the public to be subjected to an endless series of blatant lies that are only done to maliciously harm her hard-earned reputation with false information. Slander and the politics of personal destruction have no place in American politics.”
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the 17th Judicial Circuit and viewable below, claims Manley engaged in “a pattern” of false statements in campaign videos and published commentaries accusing Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, of corruption, ethical violations and misuse of taxpayer funds.
Combined, the suit said, those “false” assertions damaged Cherfilus-McCormick’s “impeccable reputation,” caused her “great emotional harm” and “were made with actual malice and intent to damage her reputation both personally and professionally.”
Manley’s campaign called the lawsuit “frivolous” in a statement.
“The right to criticize our public officials is protected under the first amendment and is a corner stone of our democracy. This is what separates the United States from authoritarian regimes and precisely the kind of freedom Elijah Manley is running for congress to protect,” the statement said.
“(Cherfilus-McCormick) is attacking her political opponent to deflect attention from the serious corruption investigation against her. This is a classic (Donald) Trump tactic that will not help her defend her seat, will not help the people of south Florida, nor will it help her avoid scrutiny.”
The complaint provides two examples of alleged defamation. The first is a campaign video Manley’s campaign posted to Instagram on July 5.
In the video, Manley says, among other things, that Cherfilus-McCormick “took $5.7 million from taxpayers from the taxpayers” before transferring millions from her bank account to her campaign coffers.
“That really shows bad judgment on her part. They accidentally overpaid her. She took all of the money,” Manley said in the video. “Regular people don’t get away with these types of crimes.”
The video references an overpayment of tenfold that Trinity Health Care Services accepted from Florida during the pandemic for vaccine work.
The company, which at the time employed Cherfilus-McCormick as CEO, agreed to repay the money in a settlement this year.
The second example the lawsuit gives is a letter from Manley that the South Florida Sun-Sentinel published on July 4. In it, Manley said that while he once “rooted for” the Congresswoman, he no longer does because “the Democrats’ collapse in our state has coincided with her election and the many ethical and legal scandals she brought to Congress.”
He cited an ongoing House Ethics Committee probe into whether Cherfilus-McCormick broke campaign finance laws in 2022, including accepting contributions and in-kind aid that may have exceeded legal limits, illegally accepting campaign contributions linked to official actions and unlawfully directed taxpayer funds meant for community projects to a for-profit company.
The panel’s investigative arm reported in May that there was “probable” or “substantial” reason to believe those allegations were valid.
To date, however, no entity has officially concluded that Cherfilus-McCormick broke the law. She maintains she did no wrong, and her Office has said she takes the matter “very seriously.”
Campaign records show nearly 88% of Cherfilus-McCormick’s spending was self-financed, with less than 1% coming from individual donors. Candidates can be as self-reliant as they want, fundingwise, but they must disclose where the money came from.
If Cherfilus-McCormick’s new lawsuit’s central contention and the damages it seeks sound familiar, that’s because she sued another one of her Primary foes, Dale Holness, for $1 million in July 2022 over “defamation and damages” stemming from campaign text messages that election cycle.
In the text message, Holness’ campaign told voters Cherfilus-McCormick embezzled $6 million from taxpayers to “buy a seat in Congress.”
Broward Circuit Judge Michele Singer placed the lawsuit, also filed by Pizzi, on “inactive” status in May 2023.
FEC records show Manley, who has unsuccessfully sought elected office in multiple state and local races, has significantly outraised Cherfilus-McCormick so far in this election cycle, with close to $485,000 raised compared to nearly $159,000 the incumbent collected.
Holness, 68, has reported no campaign finance activity, but reported more than $19,000 in carry-over cash from past cycles.
Republicans Rodenay Joseph, 47, and Sendra Dorce, 58, raised $20,000 and $0 through June 30, respectively.
Cherfilus-McCormick, the first Haitian American woman from Florida elected to Congress, has represented Florida’s 20th Congressional District since January 2022. She won her seat in a Special Election following the death of Alcee Hastings. Last year, she coasted into a full term without opposition.
CD 20 spans a majority-Black area in western and central Broward County, with a small portion of southeast Palm Beach County, including all or part of Fort Lauderdale, Lake Park, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, North Lauderdale, Plantation, Pompano Beach, Riviera Beach, Sunrise and Tamarac.
It’s Florida’s most Democratic-leaning congressional district, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+22.
The 2026 Primary Election is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.
