A federal judge rebuked the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for “outrageous” conduct in targeting the former chief financial officer of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after accusing her of wrongly dispersing a grant related to migrant housing.
DHS fired Mary Comans over an $80 million grant to New York City allowing for emergency sheltering of migrants, one of many doled out to cities as part of the Shelter and Services Program created by Congress to help pay for the cost of housing migrants.
But shortly after awarding the grant, DHS clawed the money back and accused Comans and others of “unilaterally mak[ing] egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,” arguing the move ran afoul of an executive order from President Trump pausing funding to non-profits aiding migrants.
Virginia-based federal magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick noted that such “name-clearing” hearings are rare, but said the move was essential “given the outrageous government conduct, including by those at the highest levels of DHS.”
“For reasons unfathomable to this Court, officials chose to turn the power of the federal government against a singular employee with an impeccable record of public service. In short, Ms. Comans was professionally targeted and personally attacked by government officials for no legitimate reason,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
“The attacks against Ms. Comans were based entirely on false information, and many government officials knew the...
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