The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor who was fired for instructing subordinates to skip over houses with Trump signs and banners now says that her actions were in accord with agency guidance and were not isolated to her team alone.
The supervisor, Marn’i Washington, was fired by FEMA after outrage erupted that she had instructed disaster relief workers canvassing in Lake Placid, Florida, after Hurricane Milton to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”
The Daily Wire first reported that government employees told the outlet that at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags were bypassed from the end of October and into November due to the “best practices” guidance from Washington. The houses were skipped over by the workers, who wrote messages such as: “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” in a government system, per the outlet.
On Saturday, FEMA’s administrator on employee misconduct, Deanne Criswell, confirmed to Fox News Digital that Washington had been fired and called her actions “reprehensible” and a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation.
A FEMA spokesperson told Fox News on Friday that the agency was “deeply disturbed” by Washington’s actions but insisted it was an “isolated incident.”
FEMA OFFICIAL SAID TO AVOID HOMES WITH TRUMP SIGNS: ‘TO SAY I WAS SURPRISED WOULD BE A LIE’
Photo of Hurricane Helene aftermath provided to Fox News Digital by the office of Congresswoman Kat Cammack. (Office of Congresswoman Kat Cammack)
The spokesperson said that “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.”
Speaking on a Monday episode of the “Roland Martin Unfiltered” podcast, Washington said that her instructions complied with FEMA protocol to avoid homes determined to be hostile or dangerous to workers.
“They all allege that these actions were made in my own recognizance and that it was for my own political advances. However, if you look at the record there is what we call a ‘community trend’ and unfortunately it just so happened that the political hostility that was encountered by my team … they just so happened to have the Trump campaign signage,” said Washington.
Washington claimed that her instructions were given after team members had been verbally and physically threatened by hurricane victims with signs in support of the former president. She said that her instructions followed FEMA’s “avoidance” and de-escalation policy.
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A drone view shows destroyed beach houses after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Manasota Key, Florida, U.S., October 11, 2024. (REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File Photo)
Also in contrast to FEMA’s assertion that the incident was isolated, Washington said that there were similar “avoidance” protocols in place not only in Florida but also in North Carolina.
“Senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they do not know but if you ask the DSA [disaster survivor assistance] crew leads and specialists what they are experiencing in the field they will tell you,” she said. “FEMA always preaches avoidance first and then de-escalation so this is not isolated, this is a colossal event of avoidance not just in the state of Florida, but you will find avoidance in the Carolinas.”
Last week, Republican Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, called for a hearing on the incident to be held on Nov. 19. Washington said she would welcome an investigation by Republicans in Congress.
“Please do [investigate], they will find this is not isolated. I state this over and over again, this is colossal,” she said. “Demand for FEMA to give you those incident reports. They will substantiate what we are experiencing in the field.”
A house sits damaged on Oct 8, 2024, in Asheville, NC, during the aftermath of flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene. Helene’s swath of destruction brought historic rainfall, flooding, power outages and 140-mile-an-hour winds across the Southeast. North Carolina the bore the brunt of damage, with vast swaths of cities like Asheville underwater, residents trapped in their homes with no lights or food and few functioning roads for rescue workers to help them.
FEMA responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by simply forwarding a Nov. 9 statement by Criswell condemning Washington’s actions.
“One FEMA employee departed from these values to advise her survivor assistance team to not go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Trump,” Criswell said in the statement. “I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA, and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct.”