FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell meets with Florida’s emergency management staff in Tallahassee on Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo courtesy of FEMA)
Attorney General Ashley Moody wants a jury trial against FEMA’s head and a former supervisor who advised relief workers in Florida to avoid houses displaying yard signs favoring president-elect Donald Trump.
The suit filed in federal court on Wednesday comes after the Federal Emergency Management Agency fired Marn’i Washington, supervisor of post-Hurricane Helena and Milton relief efforts in Lake Placid, over her guidance to avoid houses advertising Trump.
In the complaint, Moody accuses Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Washington of conspiring to interfere with the civil rights of Florida Trump supporters.
Aside from requesting the jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Moody is seeking nominal and punitive damages from Criswell and Washington.
“Hurricane season is not over, and the federal agency in charge of emergency response is embroiled in scandal — caught withholding aid from storm victims in Florida who support President Trump,” Moody wrote in a press release Thursday morning.
“I am taking swift legal action to find out how far this political discrimination reaches and to make sure all Americans who fall victim to devastating storms are served, regardless of their political affiliation.”
Criswell announced on Nov. 9 that the agency had fired Washington and called her behavior a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles. Moody’s complaints cite multiple interviews in which Washington said the message she sent to the relief workers, which the Daily Wire published, lacked context and that her supervisors knew about and encouraged her decision to avoid the homes.
“It’s unacceptable for the federal government to discriminate against Floridians who voted for Trump, and especially egregious in the aftermath of a hurricane,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in the press release. “I’m supportive of this legal action by the Attorney General’s Office, and I have instructed state agencies to likewise take any action necessary to investigate and ensure those who engaged in this behavior are held accountable.”
The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability called Criswell to testify on Nov. 19 about the agency’s efforts to deliver assistance. The committee’s chair, James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, wrote in a press release Wednesday that the committee is deeply concerned the events in Florida are not an isolated incident.
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