How High Does The FEMA Scandal Go?

I & I Editorial Board   

"We saw the same thing play out with the Russiagate scandal, where the public was repeatedly assured that the FBI had done everything by the book only to learn that there was a collaborative effort to use the law enforcement division to target President Donald Trump."

Image courtesy of Gary Branfman.

"Until the Daily Wire uncovered concrete evidence that the Federal Emergency Management Administration was telling relief workers to avoid Trump-supporting homes, the press was happy to take FEMA’s word and debunk accusations of political favoritism.

Now that the FEMA employee at the center of the current scandal is saying that she’s a scapegoat and that the problem is far deeper and wider, will the mainstream press ignore this too?

In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, FEMA came under attack for its seemingly sluggish response to devastation in heavily Republican areas of the Southeast.

Poppycock, responded the press, regurgitating talking points from the agency.

But then the Daily Wire got hold of messages from a FEMA supervisor telling workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” in Lake Placid, Florida, when going door to door to find those who qualified for financial aid. It also had screenshots of reports from workers saying they were “not able to access property,” with a note “Trump sign, no contact, per leadership.”

FEMA issued a response and fired the supervisor, saying her actions were in violation of the agency’s “core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation.”

And that is where the mainstream press is happy to let the story rest.

But the FEMA supervisor, Marn’i Washington, isn’t going gently into that good night. She says she’s being made the scapegoat.

“FEMA’s very well aware of the incidents that take place, not just with my crew, but with all the crews in the states,” Washington said on a podcast. “This is not isolated. This is a colossal event of avoidance.”

She said the agency lied when it claimed she’d acted on her own, and that her supervisor approved the message.

And the New York Post reported . . .