The former FEMA supervisor who ordered staff last year to “avoid homes advertising Trump” while helping hurricane-affected areas was involved in illegal partisan political activity, a federal watchdog has said. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel filed a Hatch Act complaint on Tuesday against former Federal Emergency Management Agency official Marn’i Washington.
The complaint stems from Washington’s October directive to staff members wherein she asked them to not offer disaster-relief services to Hurricane Milton victims in Florida who supported the Republican president’s campaign. Investigators with the OSC later confirmed that Washington time and again ordered her team not to visit properties displaying Trump 2024 campaign signs while canvassing Lake Placid.
In Big Trouble
Her actions was deemed unlawful political conduct, trying to “influence” the 2024 election, according to the office. “Engaging in political activity while on duty and using her official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election” is a violation of the Hatch Act, the officials said of Washington.
Washington, 39, could face possible civil penalties or be barred from future federal employment if the Merit Systems Protection Board—the appeals panel for federal workers—determines that her actions breached the 1939 law.
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“Avoid homes advertising Trump,” Washington had written in a “best practices” message to employees, according to the Daily Wire.
Her memo also included a list of routine guidelines for workers, such as “anywhere alone,” practice “de-escalation,” stay hydrated and “follow the rules.”
Between late October and early November, FEMA staff bypassed at least 20 homes displaying Trump signs or flags, denying those residents from enrolling in federal disaster relief assistance following the Category 3 hurricane’s impact.
Unethical Job Practice
After her removal, Washington complained in an interview that avoiding “politically hostile” homes was a routine practice at FEMA, a claim that former agency administrator Deanne Criswell later refuted during congressional testimony.
“FEMA preaches avoidance first, and then de-escalation,” Washington claimed to YouTube podcaster Roland Martin. “This is not isolated. This is a colossal event of avoidance.
“Not just in the state of Florida. You will find avoidance in the Carolinas.”
A FEMA official previously admitted to The New York Post that, under the Biden administration, it was an open secret that employees deliberately avoided disaster areas predominantly populated by “white or conservative” residents. The official also suggested that Washington had likely received “very clear guidance” from her superiors.
“I have heard from other entities who are serving in North Carolina that there was clear guidance saying to be ‘mindful’ of the types of people who are in Western North Carolina — they’re largely Republican, very conservative — very derogatory sorts of references in their culture,” the employee revealed at the time.
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Criswell claimed during a House Oversight Committee hearing in late November that Washington’s actions were “an isolated incident” and insisted that FEMA had no policy instructing staff to disregard so-called “politically hostile” homes.
“One of Congress’s goals in passing the Hatch Act was to ensure that government programs are administered in a nonpartisan manner,” said OSC Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger in a statement.
“OSC has determined this employee violated the Hatch Act by instructing subordinates to avoid homes with certain campaign signs. A federal employee clearly violates the Hatch Act by engaging in explicit partisan political bias or activity when on the job.”
