WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN); Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC); and Emergency Management and Technology Chairman Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) sent a letter to Disaster Survival Assistance Task Force Lead Chad Hershey, requesting he sit for a transcribed interview with the Committee. Hershey was the Task Force Lead for former FEMA employee Marn’i Washington, who was fired for giving guidance to other relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” when surveying for potential recipients of disaster relief in Florida after Hurricane Milton. Read the full letter here.
In a recent interview, Washington claims her instructions to FEMA workers were consistent with other internal FEMA guidance, and that her supervisor, Hershey, instructed her to avoid homes with signs of support for President-elect Trump due to “community trends of political hostility.” Committee staff conducted a transcribed interview with Washington on Tuesday, which further emphasized the need for answers from Hershey.
Read more from Leif Le Mahieu via The Daily Wire.
In the letter, the Chairmen write, “On November 9, 2024, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell released a statement confirming Ms. Washington’s reported actions and her departure from FEMA’s core values. You also provided a statement on or about November 8, 2024 to the media confirming that ‘we are taking action at this moment regarding the situation . . . .’ In an interview following her termination, Ms. Washington claimed that her instructions to FEMA workers were not exceptional, but rather that you, as her direct supervisor, instructed her to avoid homes that had signs bearing support for President-elect Donald J. Trump to avoid ‘community trends of political hostility.’
“The Committee seeks to uncover the complete nature and extent of FEMA’s misconduct in withholding federal assistance from Americans based on political affiliation. Your observations and experience as Ms. Washington’s Task Force Lead for the Disaster Survival Assistance Task Force are vital to the Committee’s investigation.”
Background:
On November 22, the Chairmen sent letters to Washington and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell demanding transcribed interviews following the shocking reports that FEMA workers had been directed to effectively withhold disaster-related support from homes in Florida that had signs or other items showing support for President Trump. Read the full letters to Washington here and Administrator Criswell here.
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