Trump officials refer Biden-era FEMA staff to DOJ for potential criminal charges

The Trump administration has sent a referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) recommending Biden-era Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff face criminal charges, alleging politicization of emergency funding.

However, the effort to claim officials at the disaster agency considered politics when performing their duties has apparently turned up only a handful of instances of FEMA employees mentioning political figures during former President Biden's time in office.

A press release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday accuses FEMA officials under the prior administration of having “systematically refused aid to disaster survivors on purely political discrimination.”

It also raises the spectre of charges for former FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell, arguing she was wrong when she testified under oath that one FEMA employee’s instruction not to canvas houses hit by Hurricane Milton if they had a Trump sign was simply an isolated incident.

“The actions of this employee are unacceptable, and it is not indicative of the culture of FEMA, and I do not believe that there is a widespread cultural problem,” Criswell said when testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last year.

Beyond Criswell, an accompanying 22-page report from DHS’s Office of Privacy also suggests FEMA employees may have violated the Privacy Act of 1974, which dictates what information government employees can retain on U.S. citizens.

However, their review of four years of data from FEMA employees and contractors found just 15 incidents in which personnel referenced Trump in their work canvassing properties to let owners know they could apply for assistance. In just two cases, someone referenced Biden. Those figures are drawn from tens of thousands of instances where FEMA staff knocked on someone’s door over several years.

DHS did not respond to detailed questions from The Hill and the release leaves murky who is being referred to the Justice Department. Criswell did not immediately respond to request for comment.

But the data mined by the Privacy Office appears to come from Survey123, a FEMA tool that pairs with ArcGIS software and allows canvassers to make notes about properties they visited or were unable to visit as part of their efforts to alert residents to aid.

The office reviewed “keywords” referenced in the tool, finding a few instances of mentions of political figures while the majority referenced potential guns in the home. Employees can leave notes in the tool to detail their interactions with homeowners or why they may not have been able to access a property, however the report leaves unclear the context in which President Trump was raised in the 15 comments.

“FEMA employees systematically refused to visit the houses of disaster survivors that displayed signs and flags they disagreed with, including those with campaign signs supporting President Trump—textbook political discrimination against Americans in crisis,” DHS said in a press release alongside the report, adding that the detail undercuts Criswell’s testimony before Congress.

The canvassing team, while encouraging hurricane victims to register for aid, does not determine who receives it. Any people they assist in the initial registration are then forwarded to another team, which reviews whether someone is eligible.

“I don't see anything in here that supports a Justice Department review,” Michael Coen, a former FEMA chief of staff who served under Criswell, told The Hill.

“I mean, this is notes about why they maybe didn't go to a house. There's no findings about discriminating against people because of their political beliefs or any other protected class that I can see,” said Coen, who added he helped Criswell prep for the testimony in question.

“They still haven't demonstrated" political bias, he added.

Earlier this year, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) determined former FEMA supervisor Marni Washington violated the Hatch Act when she told employees in 2024 they could avoid houses with Trump campaign signs.

The directive came at a time of broad suspicion of FEMA, and Washington’s internal guidance shared in the OSC report shows she appeared to have safety in mind, telling colleagues to “practice de-escalation and preventative measures.”

The guidance, however, was a direct violation of FEMA policy, which mandates that canvassers work to inform all residents of potential aid.

The incident has sparked further scrutiny of FEMA, and in March, then-FEMA acting director Cameron Hamilton fired three more people in connection with the episode. 

However, Hamilton, too, argued that it was not a widespread problem, noting a March report from the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

“The OPR investigation found no evidence that this was a systemic problem, nor that it was directed by agency or field leadership. However, it did determine that those in the immediate supervisor chain of the single staff member who engaged in this conduct should have had more direct control of their subordinates' behavior,” Hamilton wrote in a letter to Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.).

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also since canceled the door-to-door canvassing program, as disaster victims have numerous ways in which they can apply for assistance.

While the exact nature of the referral and what materials were sent to the Justice Department remain unclear, the Office of Privacy report makes various references to Criswell.

“The former FEMA Administrator, Deanne Criswell, acknowledged the serious nature of FEMA’s actions, by testifying before Congress and issuing a statement to the American people admitting to the wrongdoing and explaining that FEMA fired the employee responsible Administrator Criswell further explained that FEMA’s actions were not ‘indicative of any widespread cultural problems at FEMA,’” the report states.

“However, the DHS Privacy Office found that FEMA’s own records showed that this prohibited activity occurred during responses to multiple disasters by multiple employees across the nation.”

However, the bulk of the flagged incidents from the Office of Privacy primarily dealt with guns. While Trump and Biden were collectively mentioned in keywords 17 times, 83 of the “potentially impermissible" references were to signs at home indicating the owners had a gun, or otherwise references firearms or weapons. Those instances were of a total 107 collected in the report.

But the report also noted that FEMA staff have not been given clear guidance on how to approach homes where there may be weapons or they fear for their safety.

“The screenshots and data showed that FEMA canvassers bypassed homes specifically noting information related to an individual’s exercise of First Amendment rights.  In several instances, canvassers’ records indicate that canvassers skipped homes and left no disaster assistance flyers, citing the First Amendment-protected activity,” the report states.

“FEMA lacks sufficient guidance, processes, and standardized procedures for Disaster Survivor Assistance canvassers on not only what constitutes a hostile or unsafe situation but also how to handle hostile or unsafe situations while canvassing homes. The gap in the training and protocols leaves canvassers vulnerable to potential risks and hazards in making erroneous, inconsistent, and unfair decisions. Without clear directives, canvassers are left with too much discretion.”