FEMA Director Says Criticism of Agency Is Misinformation

Instead of taking responsibility for the slow and apparently politically motivated response to disaster relief after hurricanes Milton and Helene, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Deanne Criswell criticized what she deems to be the spread of “misinformation” in a House hearing on Tuesday.

Following reports of former FEMA official Marn’i Washington directing her disaster response team to avoid the homes of Trump supporters, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing giving Criswell an opportunity to answer for the political response from her agency.

“This type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA, and we will hold people accountable if they violate our standards of conduct,” Criswell said at the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management hearing, indicating that the political response was isolated to Washington’s Florida team, and not “indicative of any widespread cultural problems at FEMA.”

While Criswell also said that preliminary findings in the investigation launched after the Washington revelations have not found similar issues, Washington herself has been making her way around the media circuit claiming that her actions were being passed down through the chain of command. (Washington’s position, according to Criswell, is the “lowest level of supervision.”)

While many are skeptical that the issue is isolated given the Biden administration’s politicization of other federal agencies, Criswell and Democrat allies focused their responses heavily on combatting “misinformation” as being at the root of the issue. (Read more from “FEMA Director Says Criticism of Agency Is Misinformation” HERE)