A FEMA worker claimed she was merely taking orders from her superiors when she directed workers to provide aid to Hurricane Milton survivors in Florida to pass houses with signs supporting Donald Trump.
Marn’i Washington, who was fired over the controversy, revealed that the directive came from her bosses and that she takes the blame for the agency’s policy of “avoiding houses that promote Trump.”
‘Why is this happening to me?’ she said during an interview on Fox News @ Night Wednesday.
“I’m just the person who wrote down my superiors’ notes and my note in the (Microsoft) Teams chat was revealed by their search capability team.”
Earlier this week, Washington accused FEMA of “lying” about the scandal and making it the scapegoat for a broader practice.
She lost her job after a text string was leaked instructing her coworkers to “avoid” houses with Trump signs in their yards.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said that Washington “deviated” from the agency’s core values and violated its principles of “helping people no matter what.”
However, while facing Fox News’ Trace Gallagher, Washington insisted that FEMA’s claims were true and remained adamant that such orders came from on high.
Marn’i Washington, who was fired over the controversy, revealed that the directive came from her bosses and that she takes the blame for the agency’s policy of “avoiding houses that promote Trump.”
“I’m just the person who wrote down my superiors’ notes and my note in the (Microsoft) Teams chat was exposed by their search capability team,” Washington said
She said the agency’s employees in Florida had already avoided homes with politically charged signs before her involvement there.
‘This was the culture. They were already avoiding these houses based on community trends resulting from hostile political encounters. It has nothing to do with the campaign sign. It just happened to be part of the community trend,” Washington explained.
She said she was made a scapegoat simply because she was caught.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Well, ha ha! It’s her name. It’s her writing. Make her responsible for it.’ But I’m just re-enacting what came from my superiors,” she said.
Washington added that she had been given a list of instructions on best practices for the organization’s successful relief intervention.
The list included guidelines such as ‘do not (sick) one goes everywhere alone, ‘communicate and follow the rules’ and avoid houses that advertise Trump,’ among other things.
She also noted that the list of “best practices” was created to help ensure employee safety and prevent employees from feeling “unsafe or uncomfortable.”
Washington said she was given a list of instructions on best practices for the agency’s successful relief intervention. The list included guidelines such as “don’t go anywhere alone,” “communicate and follow the rules” and avoid homes that advertise Trump.
Washington said the agency’s employees in Florida had already avoided homes with politically charged signs before her involvement there
Washington also worked full-time in property management in California, but was fired because of the backlash she received
“I know the highlight here is the Trump campaign signage, but if someone is in another, like an urban community, and it’s a different culture and someone feels uncomfortable, we can’t go to that house.” , she said.
“If you have loose dogs and one person on the team is comfortable with dogs and another person isn’t, we can’t go to that house because of safety precautions.”
Since Washington’s resignation, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed a lawsuit federal lawsuit against Criswell and a former FEMA supervisor accusing them of violating the civil rights of Florida residents in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, accuses FEMA officials of conspiring to discriminate against Florida hurricane victims who have expressed support for Trump.