FEMA Chief To Face Two House Grillings In One Day

A second House committee announced Tuesday that FEMA Director Deanne Criswell would be questioned on guidance issued from a now-fired supervisor for relief workers in Florida to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure said that Criswell would be grilled next Tuesday on guidance from FEMA employee Marn’i Washington for workers in Lake Placid to skip homes with Trump flags or signs. The guidance was first reported on by The Daily Wire last week, prompting a flurry of investigations at the federal and state level.

The probe from the Transportation Committee will be led by members of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. The subcommittee said Tuesday that it expanded its probe of “troubling reports that emergency aid was not reaching disaster victims” after recent hurricanes into the guidance advising workers to skip Trump homes.

“More recently, additional reports have surfaced that some FEMA officials may have de-prioritized assisting homes displaying Trump for President campaign signs. Subcommittee Members will have the opportunity to raise these issues and others at next week’s hearing,” the committee said in a statement.

Criswell’s appearance before the subcommittee will come before she goes to the House Oversight Committee to testify.

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Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) indicated that the committee would ask Criswell about Washington’s Tuesday interview with Roland Martin, where she claimed FEMA has a widespread policy of avoiding “politically hostile” homes. She said that FEMA’s suggestion that she made an independent decision to avoid certain homes is a mischaracterization, stating that it is agency policy.

“FEMA always preaches avoidance first and then de-escalation, so this is not isolated,” Washington said. “This is a colossal event of avoidance not just in the state of Florida, but you will find avoidance in the Carolinas.”

“Senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they do not know,” Washington added. Federal and state investigations have been launched into FEMA to probe its policies for providing aid. FEMA has not responded to allegations from Washington, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.