A FEMA supervisor who was fired by the agency after she ordered relief workers to avoid homes in Florida with Trump signs in their yards told Newsmax Sunday she was following orders from above, and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, commenting on her report, that's been part of the pattern during President Joe Biden's tenure.
"We've seen a pattern since this administration to go after Republicans, conservatives, Trump supporters, even using the government to try to persecute and prosecute anybody who they disagree with," the Florida Republican told Newsmax's "Sunday Report."
He added that he doubts that the supervisor is the only person who was involved.
"It seems to be a pattern, but it's a pattern that cannot be accepted, period, in our country."
The federal government, he added, "cannot go after you, or in this case, try not to give you services, because they disagree with your politics."
Florida is suing FEMA over the orders to skip Trump supporters' homes, and Marn'i Washington, the supervisor who was fired, also told "Sunday Report" that it is important for people to know that she did not vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the election and she has "no grievances" with President-elect Donald Trump.
"There is no political plight on my part other than following orders, which is keeping my team safe in the field," said Washington.
FEMA has claimed that the matter was an isolated incident, but Washington insisted that the messages put out to relief workers to skip homes with Trump signs were sent through an internal app, not texts, so the communications were "leaked intentionally" after Trump won the election.
"That was not a coincidence," she said. "That was not a mistake. The timing was done perfectly to create chaos."
She added that FEMA has policies in the field for workers experiencing hostile encounters, and "the first method is to remove yourself from any uncomfortable situation, which is avoidance. And then our next steps are de-escalation."
Washington said that anything she does is "under order and with approval. I even received text messages from my superiors telling me I made the right decisions in the field."
But when asked if it was her idea or that of someone higher than her to avoid certain houses, Washington said, "This is all the way at the top of FEMA."
"The hurricane relief was already in action before I even arrived in Florida," she said. "I was on two different teams. The first team, I was not even the lead, this was the practice in order to keep people safe."
Washington added that the "community trends" for potential hostile political encounters "just so happened to have campaign signage in front of their homes. We had enough grievances documented that people did not feel welcome or safe. We cannot subject our employees to hostile work environments."
But it is not an isolated incident to skip some homes, said Washington.
"These are safety precautions that are taken with any disaster and that's why I have called on all of my fellow crew leads and my specialists to come forward and tell their stories," she said.
But Washington said she does not plan to take the fall for what happened.
"I plan to respectfully stand my ground and remind FEMA that I have followed all of their policies," she said. "If you check my record with FEMA, it always exceeds expectations for all evaluations. I have no disciplinary action. Why? Because I execute orders. I understand what the assignment is and how to get it done safely without incident."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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