House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Friday directed Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to preserve all records related to the border crisis as they prepare to leave office next year.
The requests underscore the committee’s intention to continue its investigations into alleged failures of the Biden-Harris administration. Similar preservation requests were sent last week to officials at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In his letters, Jordan voiced concerns that the agencies might purge documents, communications, and other information that the committee has repeatedly requested, potentially hindering ongoing oversight efforts, Just the News reported.
“This letter serves as a formal request to preserve all existing and future records and materials related to the Biden-Harris Administration’s enforcement of federal immigration law,” Jordan wrote in both letters. “You should construe this preservation notice as an instruction to take all reasonable steps to prevent the destruction or alteration, whether intentionally or negligently, of all documents, communications, and other information … that are or may be responsive to this congressional inquiry.”
Meanwhile, a top House Republican has uncovered a major new scandal in the final months of the Biden-Harris administration that could actually have repercussions for the outgoing administration long after they leave office. House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has launched an investigation into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following allegations that the agency discriminated against supporters of Donald Trump. Comer stated that whistleblower reports indicate widespread and longstanding anti-Trump bias within FEMA.
The investigation follows FEMA’s termination of a hurricane response supervisor after it became public that she instructed her team to avoid “Trump houses.” In a letter to the agency, the Center Square reports, Comer noted, “[O]n the condition of anonymity, a FEMA official stated that the practice avoiding ‘white or conservative-dominated’ areas is an ‘open secret at the agency that has been going on for years.’” The supervisor noted, however, that she was only following orders from higher-ups within the disaster response agency.
Comer and over two dozen Republican lawmakers sent a letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, requesting documentation that includes internal policies, spending figures, and incident reports. The lawmakers have referenced multiple anonymous sources that support the claims made by the recently fired employee. “Additionally, another whistleblower contacted the Committee during the hearing,” the letter said. “This individual informed the Committee that a FEMA contractor warned a disabled veteran’s family in Georgia to remove Trump campaign materials from their home because FEMA supervisors viewed Trump supporters as domestic terrorists.”
There could be legal consequences for any FEMA official allegedly caught in a plot to discriminate against supporters of the now-president-elect. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed a lawsuit against current and former officials of the agency following reports of political discrimination, Fox News reported this week. “FEMA workers followed these instructions and entered in a government database messages such as ‘Trump sign no entry per leadership,’” the lawsuit states. “According to whistleblowers, ‘at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags’ in Lake Placid, Florida ‘were skipped from the end of October and into November due to the guidance.’” Moody pledged to investigate the allegations as Floridians continue to face the threat of damaging storms this season.
“Hurricane season is not over, and the federal agency in charge of emergency response is embroiled in scandal – caught withholding aid from storm victims in Florida who support President Trump,” the attorney general said. “I am taking swift legal action to find out how far this political discrimination reaches and to make sure all Americans who fall victim to devastating storms are served, regardless of their political affiliation.”
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.