WASHINGTON – A federal judge ruled that top Trump administration officials spread "entirely false information" to justify firing a former top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of “outrageous government conduct."
Mary Comans was fired as FEMA’s chief financial officer on Feb. 11, 2025, for allegedly approving millions in hotel rooms for undocumented immigrants. But U.S. District Judge William Fitzpatrick in Virginia found the spending was approved by others and that officials such as Elon Musk, a former presidential adviser who headed the Department of Government Efficiency, and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, were “knowingly spreading false information about her.”
"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," Fitzpatrick wrote Oct. 13. "The attacks against Ms. Comans were based entirely on false information, and many government officials knew the accusations were untrue at the time they were made."
Comans was caught up in DOGE cuts overseen by Musk at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, under an executive order that cut thousands of workers and dismantled whole agencies.
Musk said in a social media post Feb. 10, 2025, that DOGE discovered that FEMA spent $59 million to house undocumented immigrants at “luxury hotels in New York City” in “gross insubordination” to Trump’s order.
DHS announced four terminations the next day, including the chief financial officer for the “egregious payments.”
But Fitzpatrick held a rare “name-clearing hearing” to document that the accusations against Comans were false. He found that Comans had “neither the authority nor the ability” to halt grants sent to state and local governments.
DOGE workers at the Treasury Department later argued that FEMA’s payments violated Trump’s order, and four officials including Comans were fired after “a series of finger-pointing and backtracking,” Fitzpatrick said.
The judge said Noem and her assistant, Corey Lewandowski, spread false accusations through social media contacts.
“In short, Ms. Comans was professionally targeted and personally attacked by government officials for no legitimate reason,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge rules Elon Musk, Kristi Noem spread false info to fire FEMA official
