Judge rebukes DHS for ‘outrageous’ false statements targeting former FEMA official

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 accusations were untrue at the time they were made. With no regard for the truth and with no consideration for the personal and professional effect on Ms. Comans, government officials exploited their access to mass media outlets to broadcast false information.”

The city of New York sued over the rescission of the grant funding in February of last year, while Comans sued over her termination the next month.

Comans and the awarding of the grant were discussed in public statements from both then Homeland Security Kristi Noem as well as Elon Musk, with Fitzpatrick concluding each “engaged in a coordinated public relations campaign to impugn the personal and professional integrity of Ms. Comans.”

“Armed only with false statements, high-ranking government officials undertook a premeditated campaign to impugn the personal and professional integrity of Ms. Comans, a nonpartisan, career public servant. Their intent was to disseminate false and derogatory information about Ms. Comans as widely as possible,” he wrote.

Fitzpatrick then parsed a laundry list of false statements made in regards to Comans.

“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,” he wrote.

Attorneys for Comans celebrated the ruling.

“Mary Comans served in the federal government for 21 years. Career public servants are people, not pawns, and no one who has devoted their life to serving the American public should have their good name destroyed for partisan, political gain. We are grateful that the court issued this detailed and unprecedented decision to formally correct the record and vindicate Ms. Comans,” attorney Craig Becker of Democracy Defenders Fund said in a statement.

DHS did not immediately respond to request for comment.

New York also ultimately regained the funding from the disrupted grant after litigation brought by other cities.

“This is a victory for all federal employees. No federal employee should be defamed to advance false conspiracies of the Trump administration,” said Michael Coen, who was FEMA’s chief of staff during the Obama and Biden administrations.

Zach Schonfeld and Rachel Frazin contributed.