The scandal involving FEMA’s response to hurricanes is growing.
It is worse than anyone could have ever imagined.
And a top Republican was raising hell after this awful FEMA scandal was exposed.
House Republicans ask government watchdog to investigate FEMA
Residents of the states in the South that were devastated by Hurricane Helene at the end of September complained of a lack of response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
It turned out this was not typical government incompetence but a plan by FEMA to avoid helping supporters of President-elect Donald Trump.
A whistleblower revealed that former FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington instructed disaster relief teams in Florida after Hurricane Milton to skip homes that had Trump signs or flags.
FEMA fired Washington and claimed that it was an “isolated incident.”
Washington claimed that this was FEMA policy, and she was just following orders.
House Republicans discovered that more states had Trump supporters’ homes skipped by FEMA after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Now, House Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-MO) and Representative Scott Perry (R-PA) are asking Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to open an investigation into FEMA for denying disaster relief to Trump supporters.
“The Committee is requesting that you immediately open an investigation into the multiple allegations of the deliberate avoidance of homes with Trump campaign or political signs during the agency’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton,” Graves and Perry wrote in a letter.
FEMA’s targeting of Trump supporters more widespread than initially believed
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) revealed that a disabled veteran in Georgia was ignored by FEMA disaster relief workers for having Trump signs.
Graves and Perry said sources told that entire neighborhoods were skipped by FEMA in North Carolina for being too pro-Trump.
“In North Carolina, the Committee is aware of reports of FEMA employees skipping any home that displayed a ‘Make America Great Again,’ ‘Drain the Swamp,’ ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ or Trump campaign sign. If the FEMA field team encountered three or more of these signs, the field team could abandon the entire neighborhood without notifying hurricane victims of assistance available to them,” Graves and Perry stated.
Whistleblowers came forward to the House Transportation Committee with this information.
That would square with allegations from storm victims in heavily Republican Western North Carolina who claimed that FEMA never showed up in their neighborhood.
“The Committee is increasingly concerned that this discriminatory practice of avoidance was more widespread than reported, and could have harmed victims who may still be unaware of the Federal relief benefits available to them,” Graves and Perry added. “FEMA must work to restore the trust of the American people, and your office plays a crucial role in bringing transparency and accountability to the agency.”
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell claimed she would welcome an Inspector General investigation into claims of discrimination against Trump supporters last month.
Her claims that discrimination against Trump supporters was an isolated incident do not line up with the growing number of whistleblower reporters from multiple states.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments to this ongoing story.
