The Department of Homeland Security inspector general launched an audit of the Federal Emergency Management Agency last month over claims that the agency bypassed homes ravaged by hurricanes that contained yard signs supporting then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, The Hill reported Tuesday.
Joseph Cuffari confirmed in a letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., that he initiated an audit on Dec. 17, according to the report.
The audit stemmed from a former FEMA official who instructed disaster relief workers in Florida to "avoid homes" with signs endorsing Trump. Marn'i Washington would later say her directive of "best practices" was not "isolated" and in fact was widespread and happening in the Carolinas as well in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. She also said she was being made a scapegoat over a policy she was following, not creating.
A former FEMA official lent support to Washington's claims, telling the New York Post that the pattern of skipping Trump-supporting houses has been an open secret at FEMA for years.
According to Cuffari's letter, the objective of the audit is "to determine how well FEMA followed its policies and procedures when addressing safety concerns and determining community trends that impact disaster survivor assistance in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton," The Hill reported.
Graves and Perry were among a host of Republicans who demanded an investigation.
"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," Graves and Perry wrote in a 3-page letter to Cuffari on Dec. 3. "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."
The House Oversight Committee grilled FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in November over the practice, which she said was "completely at odds with FEMA's mission." Criswell vowed then to request an inspector general investigation into the claims.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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