Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Indicted

Florida lawmaker’s holiday photo sparks questions over edited jewelry

Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida shared a Christmas greeting that’s raising eyebrows for reasons beyond festive cheer.

The holiday message, posted on social media with an official portrait, seems to have been digitally altered to remove a yellow diamond ring from her finger, the Daily Caller reported. Observers quickly pointed out the apparent edit, sparking a flurry of speculation.

The timing of this photo tweak couldn’t be worse for the congresswoman. She’s already under intense scrutiny after being indicted in November for allegedly misusing $5 million in FEMA disaster relief funds.

Prosecutors claim Cherfilus-McCormick diverted $109,000 of those federal funds to buy a “Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond” ring. That description aligns suspiciously with the jewelry seemingly erased from her holiday portrait.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi didn’t mince words about the gravity of the accusations. She declared, “Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” emphasizing accountability for those in power.

Bondi’s stance underscores a broader frustration with public officials who seem to treat taxpayer money as a personal piggy bank. If proven, these charges paint a damning picture of entitlement at the expense of disaster victims.

The potential consequences are steep, with a conviction carrying up to 53 years in prison. That’s a long shadow over a career built on public trust, now seemingly fractured by greed.

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FEMA Section Chief fired--laughed about assassination of Charlie Kirk

Sean C. Kelly

FEMA Official Terminated After Hidden Camera Captures Him Laughing About Charlie Kirk Assassination

When tragedy strikes, the masks come off — and what lies beneath can be more horrifying than the tragedy itself.

In the wake of unspeakable violence, most Americans instinctively reach for unity, prayer, and healing. But for some, the veneer of professionalism crumbles to reveal something far darker lurking beneath.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University shocked the nation, leaving his young widow Erika and their children to face an unimaginable future. While millions mourned the loss of a passionate voice for conservative values, something sinister was brewing in the shadows of our federal bureaucracy and in our society…

The revelations began trickling out through social media posts and leaked conversations. Teachers, corporate employees, even military service members – all caught celebrating the murder of a father and husband.

But nothing prepared Americans for what investigative journalist James O’Keefe would uncover at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Sean C. Kelly, a FEMA Section Chief whose salary comes from taxpayer dollars, was caught on hidden camera sharing his revolting reaction to Kirk’s assassination. The federal official didn’t just express political disagreement or even satisfaction – he laughed about murder (via Breitbart)

Read more about it...

Kristi Noem DESTROYS unhinged Democrat when she starts screaming at her in congress

"FEMA should be terminated"

Now Trump wants to completely 'terminate' FEMA, which he calls a 'disaster'

Agency already fires its CFO and 3 others for paying $59 million to illegals in luxury NYC hotels last week

President Donald Trump was famous for his reality television show line, in days gone by, "You're fired!"

It seems that's what he wants now to do with FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, that cadre of bureaucrats who admitted skipping over homes that displayed Trump signs in the aftermath of a hurricane disaster in North Carolina.

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders, but left the people of North Carolina high and dry. It is now under review and investigation. THE BIDEN RUN FEMA HAS BEEN A DISASTER. FEMA SHOULD BE TERMINATED! IT HAS BEEN SLOW AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE. INDIVIDUAL STATES SHOULD HANDLE STORMS, ETC., AS THEY COME. BIG SAVINGS, FAR MORE EFFICIENT!!!

A report at Bloomberg said the comment was a widening of Trump's fight against the federal bureaucracy. He campaigned on, and was elected to, impose transparency, responsible spending, and elimination of fraud, on government.

Read about it at WND

FEMA spent millions on housing illegals

FEMA caught spending $59 million to house illegal aliens in luxury hotels LAST WEEK!

There's more bad news for those working on all those leftover programs from Joe Biden to subsidize illegal aliens.

Now DOGE chief Elon Musk says he's found out that FEMA spent $59 million last week to house illegals in luxury hotels in New York City, and he wants the money back.

The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.
Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President's executive order.
That money is meant for American disaster relief…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025

Biden embedded throughout the government multiple ways for tax money to be spent on illegal aliens after they break the law and enter the U.S. without permission. One of Trump's agenda points is to eliminate that spending.

Under Biden, FEMA betrayed the American people by diverting funds meant for natural disasters to pay for luxury hotels for illegal migrants.

Read more at WND

Florida sues FEMA Administrator and former employee

FEMA Administrator, Deanne Criswell

Florida Launches Legal Battle Over FEMA Aid Discrimination Against Trump Supporters

A federal emergency relief controversy erupts as Florida officials challenge FEMA leadership over alleged political discrimination in hurricane assistance.

According to The Hill, Florida has filed a lawsuit against FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and former employee Marn'i Washington for allegedly denying hurricane relief to residents displaying Trump campaign signs after Hurricane Milton.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Fort Pierce, stems from instructions given to survivor assistance teams to bypass homes showing support for President-elect Trump.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's complaint alleges that Washington conspired with senior FEMA officials to discriminate against certain residents based on their political affiliations. The state seeks unspecified damages and a formal declaration of civil rights violations.

Read about it...

More on FEMA and its DEI Agenda

‘ROTTEN TO A CORE’: 5-Year FEMA Veteran Reveals Woke Bias at Disaster Relief Agency

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is under fire after a supervisor directed staff to avoid helping Florida residents with signs supporting Donald Trump, but that incident illustrates a larger culture of woke priorities undermining FEMA’s central mission, according to one current employee and one former employee who spoke with The Daily Signal on condition of anonymity.

The FEMA veterans said that, under the Biden-Harris administration, the agency prioritizes racial minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and climate initiatives, undermining its mission of helping Americans face disasters and leading Americans to distrust the federal government.

FEMA pushes diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, at the risk of saving fewer lives, they said.

Read about it...

FEMA did not come to the aid of Trump suporters

FEMA Revisits Florida Town Amid Allegations Of Political Bias In Aid Distribution

Some FEMA workers bypassed homes displaying support for President-elect Donald Trump in the aftermath of severe weather events in Lake Placid, Florida, and reports emerged, drawing scrutiny to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

According to the New York Post, the controversy has prompted a thorough reassessment of the affected area and investigations into the agency's practices.

Hurricanes Milton and Helene, followed by tornadoes, recently inflicted significant damage on Lake Placid, a small community of 2,360 located about 85 miles east of Sarasota. FEMA’s initial response raised concerns among residents and sparked allegations of political bias.

Reports revealed that Marni Washington, a FEMA employee, directed her team to skip homes displaying Trump support. This allegation led to Washington’s termination and ignited a broader controversy about FEMA’s practices during disaster response.

Read about it...

Democrats have done a lot of damage to our country.

Looking Out the Backdoor

Funds are available for FEMA

FEMA DOES have the funds in spite of Mayorkas

A Department of Homeland Security inspector general’s report from August reveals more than $7 billion remain in emergency funding that could be used for natural disasters — even though DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week none was available after Hurricane Helene.

Mayorkas, 64, told reporters following the devastation of Helene in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “does not have the funds” to endure more hurricanes this fall.

“We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” the DHS chief said Oct. 2, days before Hurricane Milton began picking up speed in the Gulf of Mexico. “We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what is imminent.”

But DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari found in his Aug. 14 report that as of October 2022, FEMA had $8.3 billion in un-liquidated funds meant to relieve declared disasters from 2012 or earlier.

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Mayor Pete gives orders to Drone Pilots

Mayor Pete orders citizens to stop using drones to find stranded victims as feds fumble hurricane response

The Transportation Department posted a video of Buttigieg's comments, adding, "Drone pilots: Do not fly your drone near or around rescue and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene. Interfering with emergency response operations impacts search and rescue operations on the ground."

During a Wednesday press briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed that the federal government lacks the funds to fully respond to such disasters, Blaze News previously reported.

"We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds," Mayorkas remarked.

America First Legal reported that the Biden-Harris administration's Federal Emergency Management Agency blew a significant portion of its funding on illegal immigrants.

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Florida Property Insurance and Taxes

Special session on property insurance and property taxes coming after election

We are all worried about the expected premium increase on our property insurance. It has always been high in Florida.

One of our buildings just budgeted $25,000 for insurance 2023. This is an 18 unit building. I will definitely have to assess more next year when the premiums come in. It's all ridiculous as we never have a claim but we must have it by Florida Condo Law.

At the governor's appearance in Ft. Myers Thursday, the following are the highlights of what he said:

• Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a special session on property insurance and property tax relief

• DeSantis also signed an executive order extending property tax payment deadlines for affected homeowners in the FEMA disaster zone

• No dates have been set but the special session will occur “after the election” and “before the end of the year”

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Commission Meeting July 13, 2021

Hurricanes Frances & Jeanne from September 2004

Can't believe this is till going on!

A. Request for Attorney-Client Session:

An item on the Agenda:

The City Attorney desires advice from the Lake Worth Beach City Commission concerning pending litigation, specifically regarding settlement negotiations and strategy related to litigation expenditures in the case of City of Lake Worth Beach, Florida v. Federal Emergency Management Agency and Peter T. Gaynor, in his official capacity, Case No. 19-cv-81140-SINGHAL and is requesting an attorney-client session to be scheduled for July 20, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. The estimated length of the attorney-client session will be approximately 45 minutes.

The session will be attended by the members of the City Commission Mayor Betty Resch; Vice Mayor Herman Robinson and Commissioners Sarah Malega, Christopher McVoy and Kimberly Stokes; Interim City Manager, Juan Ruiz; City Attorney, Glen J. Torcivia; and outside counsel Ernie Abbott and Michelle Zaltsberg. A certified court reporter will be present to ensure that the session is fully transcribed and the transcript will be made public upon the conclusion of the above-cited, ongoing litigation.

This involved hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.

There were several recommendations back then and the main one was #1: Disallow $6,998,095 of ineligible costs claimed for contracts that were not procured in accordance with Federal requirements unless FEMA decides to grant an exception for all or part of costs as provided for in 44 CFR 13.36(c), and determines the costs were reasonable (finding A).

Read more...

And then some more...

FEMA still wants its money from Lake Worth?

On-going Litigation with FEMA, Case No 19-cv-81140-SINGHAL.

This must be the same demand from FEMA that has been going on for years. Last week, the commission met out of the sunshine on this serious situation that could cost taxpayers multi-millions that we don't have.

I have written about this through the years where the city took millions of government money that it was not entitled to according to FEMA because of sloppy accounting or even possible fraud (buying personal sfuff at Sam's Club?) according to our outside auditors at the time. The biggest abuses were in the Utility Department. We even had a city manager, Paul Boyer, who was fired.

In 2010, years after the Hurricanes, FEMA sent a letter to the City requesting it pay back $8.1 million. Later, city manager Bornstein said that the claim had been negotiated down to around $4 million.

City Manager Bornstein lamented and blamed FEMA. At that time, it was documented that the city was unable to prove their claims because of faulty record keeping and/or unable to produce records and receipts.

So, a certified court reporter was present at this meeting to ensure that the session was fully transcribed. Transcript will be made public upon the conclusion of the above-cited, ongoing litigation.

Read about what we owed I have to wonder what the legal bills have been for just this one case.

President approves Federal $$$ for Dorian Disaster

Trump approves federal money for Palm Beach County’s Hurricane Dorian response

President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration for the State of Florida on Tuesday. The declaration makes federal dollars available to the state government, certain nonprofits and 12 counties including Palm Beach County.

Lake Worth tallied a total of $2.7 million! Wonder where the disaster was due to Dorian.

During Frances, Jeanne and Wilma Lake Worth had millions in claims that could not be verified by the city. FEMA wanted proof for the $26 million and we got involved in a mess trying to prove our claims. The utility department, the biggest culprit, had lost invoices and documents and the city commission didn't feel we should be responsible to pay it all back due to those document losses from so many years ago. Millions are still owed back to FEMA from their original request.

FEMA Still wants its money from Lake Worth (Beach)

I have written about this through the years where the city took millions of government money that it was not entitled to according to FEMA because of sloppy accounting or even possible fraud (buying personal sfuff at Sam's Club?) according to our outside auditors at the time. The biggest abuses were in the Utility Department. We even had a city manager, Paul Boyer, who was fired.

Read my blog that gives you some details.

In 2010, years after the Hurricanes, FEMA sent a letter to the City requesting it pay back $8.1 million. At that time, city manager Bornstein said that the claim had been negotiated down to just less than $4 million, (the claim today is $4.3 million) but it is still money that Bornstein says the City does not have. "It would almost kill us," Bornstein said. "We're a city that doesn't have a lot of money, we're financially strained like a lot of cities."

The major problem STILL, is that the city can't prove its claims. So now the city is suing FEMA...can you believe that one? They even have Lois Frankel still on their side.  FEMA  wants the $4.3 million returned. So, instead of believing the audit, acknowledging the gross mistakes and abuse of the City in spending these massive amounts of money, it is easier to sue today and blame it on a "technicality."

Read today's article in the Palm Beach Post on the lawsuit. The City Manager is still lamenting and  blaming FEMA. At that time, it was documented that they were unable to prove their claims because of faulty record keeping and/or unable to produce records and receipts.

California Over-billed the U.S. Fire Services

Trump Administration Withholding Wildfire Assistance To California

After Audit Suggests Financial Mismanagement

Apparently, the communist State of California under the leadership of ultra-liberal, Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown before him, have not turned in actual verified expenses to fight California's wildfires. Consequently, California over-billed the U.S. Fire Services in fighting fires on federal lands by $9million  because they had no proof of their claim.

This reminds me of Lake Worth.  This same thing went on after Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma. I have written about this through the years where the city took millions of government money that it was not entitled to according to FEMA because of sloppy accounting or even possible fraud according to our outside auditors at the time. We even had a city manager, Paul Boyer, who was fired.

Lake Worth failed to submit all verified expenses to FEMA. However, Staff back then was turning in receipts for all sorts of personal items such as medicine and goods from Sam's Club. The City sure didn't want to pay back any of the money to FEMA and challenged them using Torcivia's Law firm and got the bill reduced. See my blog of May 2016. Click here

Trump Alert

President Donald Trump will now be able to message all Americans in time of emergency.

FEMA
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on September 20, 2018. The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether improvements are needed

FEMA in the ROLO neighborhood?

Katie alerted me to a group of people (I witnessed four men and one woman) in the ROLO neighborhood today knocking on doors and giving out flyers from a pad. They all had badges around their necks identifying them as FEMA reps.

They did not wear uniforms. There were no markings on their van but it did have a government plate. They told me they were part of Homeland Security and here to assist people who might have a claim from hurricane damage. That's as far as I got until it poured down rain. By the time I got to my car I was drenched all the way through.

Katie called the non-emergency number at PBSO and left a message with the operator. No one called her back. One hour later she called again and no one was picking up. It's Friday.

Read the Disaster Assistance Info Sheet

FEMA now operating

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is now operating a Disaster Recovery Center in Palm Beach County to assist Floridians recovering from Hurricane Irma.

Representatives from multiple government agencies will be available at the center to answer questions and help Floridians apply for assistance.

Location:
Carolyn Sims Center
225 NW 12th. Ave.
Boynton Beach FL 33435

Monday - Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 You may also register for FEMA assistance online at: www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and use a TTY, call 800-462-7585. Help is available in most languages, and information on the registration process is available in ASL at: https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/videos/111546.

If you need additional assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me by e-mail at: IrmaAssistance@billnelson.senate.gov, or phone toll free in Florida at 1-888-671-4091.

I encourage you to share this information with your friends and neighbors as we work together to rebuild our state.

                                             Sincerely,

                                                           Bill Nelson