WASHINGTON, DC --One of the Florida members on the House Oversight Committee that grilled FEMA Director Deanne Criswell over reports that a fired supervisor told staffers to skip over homes with Trump signs in Lake Placid says . Pinellas County Republican Anna Paulina Luna says Criswell's testimony reinforced her suspicions that the agency discriminated against backers of the incoming president, based on what she heard from North Carolina.
Luna says she wants to see FEMA removed from the Department of Homeland Security and have it answer directly to the President. She also recommends president elect Trump nominate Florida emergency management director Kevin Guthrie to run the agency. Luna doesn't believe the controversy will stop Congress from approving $98 billion in FEMA funding to deal with recent disasters, including hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Rep. Luna also calls allegations against president-elect Trump's pick for attorney general "lies" and part of a "smear" campaign. She compares the allegations that Matt Gaetz (gates) had sex with a 17-year-old girl to those raised during the nomination of Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Federal prosecutors declined to press charges against Gaetz after their own investigation.) Luna says GOP senators considering the Gaetz nomination need to support President-elect Trump.
Hear more from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna in our Beyond the News podcast below:
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