DeSantis Launches Investigation Into FEMA Directive Advising Workers to ‘Avoid’ Helping Homes With Trump Signs

Go to Article

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has launched an investigation into the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump after whistleblowers came forward saying a FEMA official ordered workers to skip over homes with Trump signs as they surveyed the damage caused by Hurricane Milton, last month.

According to internal FEMA messages obtained by the Daily Wire, FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington directed workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida looking for residents who could qualify for federal aid.

This happened in Highlands County, “a deep-red area located in south central Florida that backed Trump by 70 percent on Tuesday,” the Daily Wire reported. The area was  ravaged by tornadoes, torrential wind, rain, and flooding after Milton made landfall at Siesta Key on October 9 as a category 3 hurricane.

Washington’s directive was one among multiple “best practices” the agency recommended, along with “bring a towel with you tomorrow in the field” and take “frequent breaks and drink water.”

According to the Daily Wire,  Washington relayed this message verbally on October 22, and again in a group chat used by the relief team on October 27.

The Florida governor said in a statement Friday, this “blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days.”

“At my direction, the Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump,” DeSantis added. “New leadership is on the way in DC, and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.”

The whistleblowers told the Daily Wire that at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags were passed over from the end of October and into November due to the guidance, depriving them of the opportunity to qualify for FEMA assistance.

The Daily Wire reported that images from FEMA’s messaging system confirmed that workers followed through with Washington’s directive, explaining why they were “not able to access property” with messages such as : “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” “Per leadership no stop Trump flag,” “Trump sign,” and “Trump sign, no contact per leadership.”

As the Daily Wire noted, it’s not clear whether this guidance was issued elsewhere in the Southeast, where, in many cases, residents had complained that FEMA’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton were sluggish to nonexistent.

The employees were part of a Department of Homeland Security surge capacity force team, meaning they volunteered from other DHS agencies to help an understaffed FEMA as it dealt with a second major hurricane in a span of just a few weeks.

“I know they’re short-staffed, I thought we could go help and make a difference,” one employee told the Daily Wire. “When we got there we were told to discriminate against people. It’s almost unbelievable to think that somebody in the federal government would think that’s okay.”

The employee felt it was terrible to discriminate against Trump supporters when they were at their “most vulnerable.”

“I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them,” the employee said. “It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.”

A whistleblower complaint filed to the Department of Homeland Security states: “If they had damage or lost power for over thirty-six hours, it was my duty to inform them of benefits to which they are entitled through FEMA.”

“This behavior raises significant concerns of discrimination against United States citizens because of their political views,” the complaint obtained by The Daily Wire, continued. “These actions not only undermine the integrity of our agency and create a hostile work environment for those who may hold differing political beliefs but they also threaten the very democracy of our country.”

Washington is the Disaster Survivor Assistance crew leader for Highland County, a leadership chart reviewed by The Daily Wire shows. She did not respond to multiple phone calls or an email seeking comment on the guidance.

Chad Hershey, Washington’s FEMA supervisor, told The Daily Wire that the agency is looking into the situation.

“We are aware of it and we are taking proper action in this situation currently,” Hershey said.

Pressed to confirm the messages, Hershey said: “We are aware of it and we are taking action at this moment regarding the situation that you’re talking about.”

Hershey told the Daily Wire that FEMA would be providing a fuller statement on the situation.

On November 8, 2024, FEMA’s website posted an update praising the Biden-Harris Administration’s “recovery progress” in Florida.

The Biden-Harris Administration has maintained unwavering support to Florida after three catastrophic hurricanes, Debby, Helene and Milton, made landfall in a two-month period. In the month since Milton made landfall, a total of $2.1 billion in FEMA assistance has been approved for Florida’s hurricane recovery. Assistance has included $931.7 million in awards directly to survivors, helping them pay for housing repairs, personal property replacement and other recovery efforts. Additionally, over $1.18 billion in grants have been approved to support local and state governments for recovery efforts such as debris removal and emergency protective measures. This funding continues to increase daily.

A FEMA spokesperson told The Daily Wire after the story was published that the agency was “deeply disturbed” and “horrified” by the employee’s actions, and that FEMA has “taken extreme actions to correct this situation.”

“While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The employee who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes and we are reaching out to the people who may have not been reached as a result of this incident.”

“This is a matter that we take extremely seriously and we are doing everything we can to make sure all survivors receive support from FEMA. To date, we have helped over 365,000 households impacted by both Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the state of Florida and have provided over $898 million in direct assistance to survivors.”

“We are horrified that this took place and therefore have taken extreme actions to correct this situation and have ensured that the matter was addressed at all levels. Helping people is what we do best and our workforce across the agency will continue to serve survivors for as long as it takes.”

One of the federal whistleblowers told the Daily Wire that Washington started walking back the instructions to skip Trump supporters’ homes on October 30 after there was some push back.

Relief workers said “Washington denied that homes were being skipped after a meeting with other FEMA administrators.”

According to the whistleblowers, “Washington has not been punished for the guidance, but has been shifted to another county in Florida.”

[H/T American Greatness]



Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account