WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA) has fired three extra supervisors following an inner probe into claims a crew of catastrophe reduction employees have been instructed to keep away from Trump-supporting houses hit by Hurricane Milton in Florida, The Publish can completely reveal.
Cameron Hamilton, the present appearing administrator of the company, introduced in a Tuesday letter to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) that an “exhaustive investigation” had concluded the supervisors didn’t “meet our standards of conduct” or reign of their partisan underlings’ habits.
“[I]t is essential that the entire workforce understand that this incident was reprehensible, and this type of behavior will not be tolerated at FEMA,” Hamilton wrote.
“Further, in accordance with my commitment, and that of President Trump and [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem, to ensure that Americans receive impartial assistance from FEMA, I have directed a comprehensive additional training for FEMA staff to reinforce that political affiliation should never be a consideration in the rendering of assistance.”
Blackburn had demanded solutions concerning the snub from now-departed FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in a letter final November, expressing her “disgust with the blatant display of bias.”
“I’m pleased to see that FEMA has terminated four individuals as a result of the agency’s disgusting discrimination against Trump supporters in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year,” she instructed The Publish on Thursday.
“This unjustifiable behavior should never be allowed to fester or run rampant in any organization — let alone a federal agency that is designed to serve the needs of the American people.”
Hamilton added that the investigation additionally “found no evidence this was a systemic problem, nor that it was directed by agency or field leadership” — immediately contradicting claims by ex-FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington.
In October, Washington instructed her crew canvassing hurricane-ravaged areas of Lake Placid, Fla., to “avoid homes advertising Trump,” in response to a “best practices” memo first reported by the Every day Wire.
The company fired Washington the next month, with Criswell calling her directive “a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation.”
The next month, Washington broke her silence in a November interview with YouTube podcaster Roland Martin, accusing FEMA staff leaders of ordering employees to disregard supporters of the forty seventh president’s marketing campaign “not just in the state of Florida” however “in the Carolinas.”
“Senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they do not know, but if you ask the [Disaster Survivor Assistance] crew leads and specialists what they’re experiencing in the field, they will tell you,” she stated.
On the time, one FEMA worker confirmed to The Publish that crews working in Western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene got “clear guidance” to be “mindful” of affected areas which might be “largely Republican” or “very conservative.”
The employee indicated that the company’s give attention to “equity” had motivated that steerage because it sought to distribute greater than $1.2 billion in direct catastrophe help to residents ravaged by the storm.
Home committees subsequently launched probes into potential “systemic bias” within the provision of catastrophe reduction to Trump-supporting victims of Hurricanes Milton and Helene throughout the Southeast.
The unbiased US Workplace of Particular Counsel and the Division of Homeland Safety Workplace of the Inspector Common additionally investigated the incident, as did a number of state attorneys basic.
Amid these probes, Criswell testified to Home lawmakers in November, after Trump’s election victory, that no proof had emerged exhibiting Washington’s actions have been a widespread problem.
“It has not gone beyond what this one employee did,” she instructed members of the Home Oversight Committee, including that there was no agency-wide steerage to disregard so-called “politically hostile” houses.
The Workplace of Particular Counsel “confirmed” that evaluation — and slapped Washington with a Hatch Act grievance final month.
By “[e]ngaging in political activity while on duty and using her official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election,” the particular counsel’s workplace stated, Washington had violated the 1939 legislation, opening her as much as doable civil penalties and debarment from future federal employment.
The Benefit Methods Safety Board, a federal-worker appeals panel, is now contemplating her case.
