Fired FEMA official agrees workers avoided Trump homes as they would homes with vicious dogs

Fired FEMA supervisor Marni Washington doubled down on claims that workers were instructed by higher-ups in the agency to avoid homes displaying pro-Trump signs.

Speaking with Fox News’s Trace Gallagher on “Fox News @ Night” on Wednesday, the former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor claimed she is being used as a scapegoat and detailed how employees’ fears over safety or just being “uncomfortable” drove some decisions.

“I know the highlight here is the Trump campaign signage, but if someone is in another like an urban community and it’s a different culture and someone feels uncomfortable, we can’t go to that home,” she told Gallagher.

“If you have loose dogs, and someone on the team was comfortable with dogs and another person is not, we can’t go to that home because of safety precautions,” she continued.

Gallagher attempted to clarify as he asked, “So the people in FEMA were fearing the Trump houses like they were fearing people with vicious dogs in their backyard?”

“Exactly,” Washington responded.

She contended earlier that the FEMA team in Florida was already avoiding Trump homes before she began her work there.

“This was the culture. They were already avoiding these homes based on community trends from hostile political encounters. It has nothing to do with the campaign sign. It just so happened to be part of the community trend,” Washington said.

A FEMA spokesperson told Fox News that the fired worker’s actions were an “isolated incident.”

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told Fox News Digital that Washington’s actions were “reprehensible” and confirmed she was fired.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

“Why is this coming down on me? I am the person that jotted down the notes from my superiors and my notation in [Microsoft] Teams chat was exposed from their search capacity team,” Washington told Gallagher.

“So you’re telling me these orders came from somebody above?” Gallagher asked Washington at one point, to which she confirmed, “Correct.”

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the agency over workers in Lake Placid allegedly being told to skip over the homes of storm victims who supported Trump.

“FEMA workers followed these instructions and entered in a government database messages such as ‘Trump sign no entry per leadership,’” the lawsuit states. “According to whistleblowers, ‘at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags’ in Lake Placid, Florida ‘were skipped from the end of October and into November due to the guidance.’”

“Hurricane season is not over, and the federal agency in charge of emergency response is embroiled in scandal – caught withholding aid from storm victims in Florida who support President Trump,” Moody said. “I am taking swift legal action to find out how far this political discrimination reaches and to make sure all Americans who fall victim to devastating storms are served, regardless of their political affiliation.”

Washington’s reference to the culture of fear in FEMA over vicious dogs and Trump supporters was ripped on social media.

 

Frieda Powers

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