Investigators are looking for staffers who anonymously endorsed an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s cuts to disaster funding.
Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel who signed an open letter criticizing President Donald Trump's cuts to disaster funding have been interrogated in recent weeks in an effort to determine the names of colleagues who endorsed the letter anonymously or distributed it, according to people familiar with the investigation and documents reviewed by Bloomberg News.
The interviews with FEMA workers have been carried out by the agency's division that investigates employee misconduct, and those interviewed have been told they risk being fired for failure to cooperate. The employees have been instructed not to bring counsel, according to people familiar with the process.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, declined to comment “on ongoing investigations.” A FEMA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on personnel issues.
Nearly 200 current and former staffers co-signed the Aug. 25 whistleblower letter, which included a petition to Congress seeking workforce protections against “politically motivated firings.” Of the 192 signatories, 154 chose to remain anonymous.
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