House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) revealed Monday that FEMA employees told him that the agency has a “pattern” of discriminating against conservatives, contradicting claims from FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
Comer told Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro that he had spoken with FEMA employees who appeared to confirm fired supervisor Marn’i Washington’s claims that her instructions for workers in Florida to “avoid homes advertising Trump” was in accordance with agency policy. The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into FEMA after whistleblowers told The Daily Wire that at least 20 homes in Lake Placid with Trump signs or flags were skipped during Hurricane Milton relief operations.
“We fear that this isn’t an isolated incident. We believe this is a pattern,” Comer said in an interview released on “The Ben Shapiro Show” on Monday. “We’ve spoken with other employees who haven’t yet come forward, but have provided some information that this is the way FEMA operates, that they do discriminate against Republicans, against conservatives, against people in more prominent neighborhoods.”
Comer’s comments come a day before Criswell will appear before the Oversight Committee. Before meeting with the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, Criswell will testify before the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
Criswell has said that Washington’s guidance was an “isolated” incident and not approved by the agency.
“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,” she said, announcing that Washington had been fired.
Comer said the committee plans to interview Washington, who has claimed that FEMA has a widespread policy of avoiding “politically hostile” homes.
“FEMA always preaches avoidance first and then de-escalation, so this is not isolated,” she told Roland Martin last week. “This is a colossal event of avoidance not just in the state of Florida, but you will find avoidance in the Carolinas.”
Comer told Shapiro that the guidance was endemic to the broader takeover of federal agencies by leftist activists.
“I think every government agency, whether it’s FEMA, whether it’s the EPA, whether it’s the FBI, whether it’s the Securities and Exchange Commission,” Comer said. “I think every agency in the federal government is populated with left-wing activists that have risen to the top.”
