WATCH: Jim Jordan Grills FEMA Director After Hurricane Relief Team Skipped Pro-Trump Houses

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was among several prominent Republicans who grilled FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell after it was revealed that a team was directed to skip over houses with pro-Trump flags or signs in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

Earlier this month, the Daily Wire obtained a memo that was distributed to a team of hurricane relief workers who were surveying the damage in the Lake Placid area of Florida. The memo, which was titled “Best Practices,” instructed workers to avoid homes that displayed Trump signs or flags. This resulted in an untold number of pro-Trump households being unable to qualify for federal aid in the wake of the disaster.

Washington — who has since been fired — has claimed that the guidance was issued by higher-ups in the agency. The fired FEMA employee has compared pro-Trump homes to those with aggressive dogs in the yard, stating that workers were told to steer clear of them under the agency’s “de-escalation” policies.

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“They all allege that these actions were made in my own recognizance and that it was for my own political advances. However, if you look at the record, there is what we call a ‘community trend,’ and, unfortunately, it just so happened that the political hostility that was encountered by my team … they just so happened to have the Trump campaign signage,” Washington said during a recent podcast appearance.

She also claimed that the same guidance was in place in North Carolina and was issued by higher-ups, something FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has denied.  “FEMA helps all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation and we are deeply disturbed by this employee’s actions,” an agency spokesperson told the New York Post. “While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again,” the statement added.

On Tuesday, Criswell testified before multiple House committees about the incident and steps the agency is taking to rectify it.

“She said it’s common practice. You said it’s reprehensible and isolated. Both statements can’t be true. So someone’s not giving us the facts. I’m kind of trying to figure out who’s not telling the truth,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) told the administrator. 

The House Freedom Caucus member then pointed to statements from another FEMA employee, who spoke with congressional investigators on the condition of anonymity, that Washington’s instructions were consistent with agency-wide guidance. “Well you had another employee, now they remain anonymous, but I think one of my colleagues pointed this out earlier FEMA official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Miss Washington likely  received quote, ‘very clear guidance from her supervisors.’ Is that not accurate, is that person lying too?” Jordan asked.

Criswell continuously stated that she has not seen “any evidence” that the guidance was issued beyond Washington’s team, though she failed to rule it out completely and stated that the agency is currently conducting an internal investigation.

“The same person who said that [Washington] likely received very clear guidance, this other FEMA official, also said this, ‘I’ve heard from other entities who are serving in North Carolina that there was clear guidance to be mindful,’ quote, of the ‘types of people who are in Western North Carolina.’ That’s pretty derogatory stuff there isn’t it?” the congressman went on to say.

Jordan went on to compare the agency’s conduct to that of disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok, a key player in the bogus Russian collusion investigation who made several derogatory comments about Trump supporters and claimed he was working to “stop” Trump’s presidency. He also referenced a pre-election statement from President Biden, who labeled Trump supporters as human “garbage.”

“This disdain this mindset that’s in the government where they’re, everyone’s deplorable, everyone’s garbage, everyone is, you know, smelly people at Walmart and oh, be mindful of ‘those people in western North Carolina,’ that’s what it sounds like. And again, the best evidence is the text message we have, which reinforces that mindset that we have seen from so many people in our government.”

In a separate hearing conducted by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) told Criswell it was hard to believe the Florida incident was a one-off. “I believe FEMA has blatantly neglected its core mission of providing emergency support to all Americans without prejudice or bias. I also believe this doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I understand the person who’s been fired, she swears that this came from above her,” he said.

Van Drew went on to question whether his home state of New Jersey — which is currently dealing with an outbreak of wildfires — will be punished due to its massive shift towards Trump on Election Day. The reliably blew state was only carried by Vice President Kamala Harris by roughly five percentage points, representing one of the largest shifts towards the Republican Party in the 2024 election cycle.

“President Trump had a really good result in the state of New Jersey. He didn’t quite make it, but it’s usually a very, very blue state. The state I’m from is New Jersey, because we’re having wildfires right now, as you probably know. And people wonder, are we gonna be punished because it was so supportive of President Trump?” the congressman asked.

“Because to be honest with you, I do my job. I was a dentist in my other life, and your job is kind of like that, we have to take care of people, not in the political end, but in the governmental end, regardless of who they are, what they believe, what they feel, what they’ve said, that is our responsibility and job. This is so unbelievably, fundamentally wrong.”

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