Who is Marni Washington? FEMA official comes under fire by netizens over texts sent to relief workers to skip homes with Trump signs
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has reportedly ordered an investigation into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after it was revealed that an official allegedly instructed workers to skip homes displaying Donald Trump signs while assessing the damage from Hurricane Milton. As per Daily Wire, it has now been confirmed that official Marn’i Washington was behind the edict.
Marn’i Washington reportedly conveyed the message both verbally and through a Microsoft Teams chat to relief workers canvassing Lake Placid residences last month. She allegedly wrote in a memo:
“Avoid homes advertising Trump.”
The order was reportedly the second bullet point in the instructions given to workers. Other guidelines included not going “anywhere alone,” staying hydrated, following the rules, and practicing “de-escalation.”
FEMA confirmed that at least 20 houses displaying Trump signs or flags were omitted from their assessments, considering that it was election season. Their tracking system stated that messages left by workers when they skipped houses read, “Trump sign no entry per leadership.”
As per a screenshot of her LinkedIn account, Marn’i Washington worked as an emergency management specialist with FEMA. Before this role, the Riverside, California native owned Olam Industries LLC. She also served as the Bay Area Regional Manager of Avanath Capital Management, LLC.
Several internet users expressed outrage over the incident. Some comments online read:
“Whoever gave those orders should be arrested or at the very least sued,” an X user said.
“Wow, lawsuit coming and FEMA should be dismantled,” another internet user said.
“Holy sh*t. Someone needs to go to jail,” a netizen said.
President-elect Donald Trump himself had not reacted to the controversy at the time of writing this article. Neither had Marn’i Washington herself. Meanwhile, other reactions read:
“I have this really strong feeling that justice is coming for all of those bast*rds,” an X user said.
“Disgusting. These agencies need to gutted,” another internet user said.
“Who made this order? They need to be brought before congress, immediately,” a netizen said.
As per The Post, the organization's employees stated that Washington was not punished or fired from her position following the controversy and that she has been shifted to another Florida county. However, the organization stated in an official statement that Washington was “no longer working in the state of Florida or in any FEMA operations at this moment,” pending the outcome of the investigation. Other comments read:
“Sounds like FEMA has some swamp monsters. Can’t wait for Elon to start auditing them,” an X user said.
“They should be criminally prosecuted,” another netizen said.
Ron DeSantis releases statement following FEMA controversy
On November 9, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took to X to announce that his administration has launched an investigation into FEMA. DeSantis stated:
“The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days. At my direction, the Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government's targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump.”
The scandal comes after Donald Trump and JD Vance criticized the Biden-Harris administration for its slow response to the Hurricane Helene disaster.