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Here’s What We Learned From FEMA Chief’s Day Of Congressional Grilling

FEMA Director Deanne Criswell testified for over five hours about aid workers skipping homes displaying Trump flags in Florida

Washington, November 20, 2024
By  Leif Le Mahieu

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell spent over five hours on Tuesday testifying about an agency supervisor’s direction to relief workers to skip homes with Trump signs. But Criswell revealed little about the scandal, instead repeatedly pointing to the agency’s “ongoing investigation.”

Lawmakers on two Republican-led committees grilled Criswell about since-fired FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington, who told relief workers in Lake Placid, Florida to “avoid homes advertising Trump.” During questioning from lawmakers, Criswell confirmed that she had asked the Inspector General to conduct its own “independent” investigation. 

 

“We are working with the inspector general to determine whether or not this is broader than this, but the evidence that I have seen so far shows that this was an isolated incident, and it has not gone beyond what this one employee did,” Criswell told the House Oversight Committee. 

She said it was “too early to tell” when the investigation would wrap, but insisted she had “directly asked” the Inspector General to investigate both South and North Carolina. Investigations at the state level in Florida and Tennessee, and from various Republican senators and congressmen, are also underway.

Multiple lawmakers asked Criswell about Chad Hershey, Washington’s supervisor in Highlands County, Florida, where relief workers skipped at least 20 homes displaying Trump flags or signs. Criswell said that Hershey was part of the ongoing investigation, but didn’t comment further. Hershey previously told The Daily Wire that “proper action” was being taken after he was asked about the Trump home guidance. 

Criswell said that there were 11 people under Washington’s supervision who received guidance to skip homes with Trump signs. Images of the chat obtained by The Daily Wire reveal 13 participants, including Washington, suggesting there was one official over Washington in the messages. Criswell said she had not spoken with any of the 13 employees, adding that she has “an entire team that focuses on this investigation and that’s what they’re doing.”

She said that anyone who is found to have discriminated against disaster victims for political reasons would be fired. 

Criswell said that she became aware of the texts on November 7, the day The Daily Wire first reached out for comment on the messages. She said she directed her staff to investigate and was presented with proof of the texts on November 9. Later that day, she announced Washington had been fired. 

A whistleblower report on the guidance was filed with the Department of Homeland Security on October 27. Criswell said the Office of Special Counsel began looking into the guidance on October 28. 

She said multiple times throughout her testimony that she was “heartbroken” by the guidance, but said she believed there were no wider cultural problems at FEMA. 

“I do not believe that this employee’s actions are indicative of any widespread cultural problems at FEMA,” Criswell said. “FEMA however has taken appropriate action to ensure this matter is fully investigated and I am committed to ensuring that nothing like this ever happens again.” 

This directly contradicts Washington’s claims that FEMA has a widespread policy of skipping “politically hostile” homes, including in the Carolinas, and that the agency is trying to make her a scapegoat.

“There is nothing in any of our policies, our training, or our information sent out to our field workers to avoid any home for whatever reason, especially not because of a political affiliation,” Criswell said. After the guidance became public, Criswell said she sent an email to all FEMA staff reiterating that they cannot discriminate based on politics, and ordered field workers to go through refresher training. 

Criswell also disputed Washington’s claims that FEMA uses “community trends” to skip homes. Washington said that “community trends” in Lake Placid showed people with Trump homes were “hostile,” leading to her guidance. 

”Our policies in nowhere talk about proactively discriminating against areas where they feel that there might be something harassing,” Criswell said, saying that “community trends” language was intended to mean that certain communities may have specific disaster-related needs.

This contradicts statements from lawmakers who have said that other individuals have come forward to allege political bias. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) said 35 of his constituents claim they had been discriminated against by FEMA for political reasons. Likewise, Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) said that a whistleblower had contacted his office telling him that an elderly Georgia couple was instructed by a FEMA supervisor to remove their Trump flags.

Other lawmakers, including Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), told The Daily Wire on Tuesday that they were not satisfied with Criswell’s answers, and looked forward to seeing the results of full investigation.