FEMA cleared of punishing pro-Trump hurricane victims

Five months after Republicans accused the Biden administration of deliberately denying disaster aid to Donald Trump supporters in Florida, a federal investigation has cleared former administration officials of wrongdoing, a new document shows.

The investigation found “no evidence” the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered employees to skip homes displaying support for Trump as they were going door-to-door in October to help victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Republicans in Congress and in Florida assailed FEMA after an agency employee directed a small FEMA disaster team to avoid pro-Trump houses in a central Florida community and said she was “simply following orders.”

Trump noted the employee's accusation in a January executive order. It created a council to review FEMA and claimed "there are serious concerns of political bias in FEMA."

Florida’s attorney general sued then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in November, accusing her of acting “to deny Trump supporters emergency relief” and engaging “in a series of discriminatory acts.”

Republicans in Congress launched their own investigation into “potential discrimination against disaster victims.” They cited a comment in a media interview by the FEMA employee that “points to a possibly systemic bias within FEMA against individuals that support President-elect Donald J. Trump.”

But a probe by FEMA’s Office of Professional Responsibility “found no evidence that this was a systemic problem, nor that it was directed by agency or field leadership.”

Completed in March, the probe was disclosed in a settlement document the Justice Department filed Monday in Florida ending the federal lawsuit against Criswell. The case was settled with both parties agreeing not to pursue claims against each other and without any punitive damages the state attorney general had sought.

The lawsuit was brought by Ashley Moody, a Republican who was Florida’s attorney general until Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to the U.S. Senate seat that former Sen. Marco Rubio left when he became secretary of State in January. Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, took over the lawsuit.

Although Uthmeier settled the case against Criswell, the attorney general is continuing to pursue claims against the former FEMA worker, Marn’i Washington, for punitive damages.

Criswell fired Washington shortly after learning she had directed her disaster team to skip houses displaying support for Trump in Lake Placid, Florida, a small community about halfway between Tampa and Miami. The former FEMA administrator strongly condemned Washington’s actions and said they were isolated.

FEMA acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton, a Trump appointee, said in a separate letter in March that he fired three additional FEMA employees as a result of the agency’s “exhaustive” investigation into Washington’s claims.

Hamilton said in a letter to Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) that FEMA employees were receiving “comprehensive additional training” to reinforce that “political affiliation should never be a consideration in the rendering of assistance.”

In February, the federal Office of Special Counsel filed a complaint againstWashington after finding that she “repeatedly told her subordinate crew members not to visit properties with Trump 2024 campaign signage.”

The complaint accuses Washington of violating the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in political activity while on duty. It was filed with the Merit Systems Protection Board, which investigates allegations of partisan political action by federal employees.

House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who launched the congressional investigation into FEMA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.