On Tuesday, a federal judge put an end to a smear campaign conducted against former FEMA Chief Financial Officer Mary Comans by officials and allies of President Donald Trump. According to the judge, the affair was “little more than state-sanctioned intimidation.”
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The case dates back to Februrary 20205, when the Department of Homeland Security accused Comans of authorizing what it described as improper payments for New York City migrant shelter accommodations, including reimbursements for hotel costs. According to the DHS, she had “circumvented leadership” to make these payments, which led to her dismissal from FEMA. Comans has denied wrongdoing and argued that the payments were authorized under existing FEMA procedures. She later filed lawsuits claiming that her firing was unlawful and that the public allegations damaged her reputation without due process. A federal judge then ruled that she was entitled to challenge the accusations through a name-clearing hearing, finding that the government’s actions raised significant due process concerns. Tuesday’s ruling is the result of that hearing.
In this latest opinion, the judge doesn’t hold back in assigning blame. According to the opinion, Musk, along with former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, “chose to turn the power of the federal government against a singular employee with an impeccable record. … The attacks against Ms. Comans were based entirely on false information,” and many officials “knew [they] were untrue.” As the judge noted, Comans had spent 21 years in nonpartisan service until she was fired without cause, smearing her names with statements that were “objectively and demonstrably false.” As the Washington Post explains, “In early February last year, Musk posted on X that DOGE, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, discovered FEMA sent $59 million to ‘luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,’ calling the payment unlawful and an act of ‘gross insubordination.'” Musk then shared Comans’s name and photo in a post accusing her of “a criminal action.”
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Tuesday’s opinion by Judge William Fitzpatrick demolished these accusations on no uncertain terms, writing, “Armed only with false statements, high-ranking government officials undertook a premeditated campaign to impugn the personal and professional integrity of Ms. Comans, a non-partisan, career public servant. Their intent was to disseminate false and derogatory information about Ms. Comans as widely as possible. To be clear, it was the stated position of the United States Government that Ms. Comans acted in a criminal manner with a criminal intent. That is untrue. Ms. Comans was publicly accused of knowingly and ‘egregiously’ misspending federal funds. That is untrue. She was accused of laundering ‘forbidden funding.’ That is untrue. She was accused of willfully violating a Presidential Executive Order, the orders of the DHS Secretary, circumventing leadership, and frustrating the will of the American people. That is untrue. She was accused of undermining public safety. That is untrue. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth herein the Court finds that the derogatory statements about Ms. Comans were objectively and demonstrably false, that many high-ranking government officials made these statements knowing they were false, and as to her conduct as the Chief Financial Officer of FEMA, Ms. Comans’ name is adjudged cleared.”
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