A Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who was fired for allegedly telling Florida relief workers to skip homes that displayed signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump insisted she was “framed” in the scandal.
In an interview Monday night on NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live,” the former FEMA employee, Marn’i Washington, insisted she didn’t do anything wrong and was merely following orders.
“So firstly, I’m being framed. There’s no violation of the Hatch Act. I was simply following orders,” she said in the interview. “I did not vote for Kamala Harris, so there is no political play on my part. I was simply following orders.”
Ms. Washington is accused of ordering members of her relief aid team to skip homes with signs supporting Mr. Trump while surveying the damage from Hurricane Milton in Lake Placid, Florida, to determine which residents would be eligible for federal aid. She said the decision to avoid the pro-Trump homes came from higher-ups within the agency.
“I execute orders. I don’t create policy. I do not reinvent the wheel. My record shows that,” Ms. Washington said.
The interview came ahead of FEMA Administrator Deanna Criswell’s testimony about the incident Tuesday morning before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Last week, the committee asked Ms. Criswell to brief members about the allegations and FEMA’s response to them, along with documents about the efforts to provide aid to homes because of the incident.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody last week filed a lawsuit naming Ms. Washington and Ms. Criswell, claiming they unlawfully conspired to deny Trump supporters hurricane relief funds. The lawsuit asks for unspecified damages and declarations that the two defendants violated Floridians’ civil rights.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.