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Lisa Rein
Journalist covering federal agencies and government leadership in the Trump administration
FEMA's director, William "Brock" Long, used vehicles and government personnel on 40 trips for personal reasons, including family vacations in Hawaii, despite official warnings.
The misuse of government resources by Long has cost taxpayers $ 94,000 in salaries, $ 55,000 in travel expenses and $ 2,000 in vehicle maintenance, said the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security. The Washington Post obtained a redacted copy of the Inspector General's report before it was released on Wednesday.
[Read the full report: Inspector general investigation of Brock Long]
A spokeswoman for the Federal Agency for Emergency Management did not respond to a request for comment.
DHS refused to answer questions about the report, referring to a joint statement issued last week by Long and Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who had ordered Long to repay the government "if necessary". on the precise amount.
The Wall Street Journal reported for the first time part of the content of the investigation Tuesday night.
In his statement last week, Long said he would "accept full responsibility for any mistakes made by me". He will be allowed to stay in his post, officials said.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), The Democratic House's largest committee on control and reform of the government, said in a statement that the FEMA administrator "is supposed to be prepared for disasters such as the devastating hurricanes Americans in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands – do not use government vehicles to move their families around Hawaii at taxpayers' expense.
He described the "apparent violations of federal law for his personal benefit" as Mr. Long … another example of how senior Trump administration officials continue to use US taxpayers' money to fund their sumptuous lifestyles.
Long is the last senior Trump administration official to be caught in a scandal over travel habits that have blended official and personal government travel with first-class or military aircraft.
The former Secretary of Health and Social Services' use of costly chartered jets, Tom Price, cost him his job last fall, and former Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin has been widely criticized for his trip to Europe. Scott Pruitt, a former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, has also been indicted for charging the government with first-class airline tickets.
The investigators made the unusual decision to secretly monitor Long for five months, from December to April, according to the report. They have seen him driving repeatedly in state-owned Suburbans or renting SUVs from his Washington DC apartment at FEMA Headquarters and Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Hickory, North Carolina. reporting.
[FEMA administrator will reimburse government, won’t face charges from internal probe]
Four investigators from the Long team made a total of 25 trips to North Carolina, none of which involved official matters, according to investigators. They stayed in hotels near Long's home while waiting to take him back to Washington or Charlotte Airport – all at taxpayers' expense, according to the report. In addition, "all drivers have benefited from overtime or compensatory time," investigators wrote.
On a March trip, while an assistant was driving Long in North Carolina after an official event in Hot Springs, Virginia, Long told the driver to stop at a neighbor's house to pick up one of his sons , the report said. Another time, an assistant picked up Long's kids at school – a detour, Long said to the investigators, the assistant offered to do, according to the report.
Investigators also highlighted a case in November when Long asked an assistant to pick him up at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and take him to McRae, Georgia, where he attended a large funeral. -father of his wife.
The trip to Hawaii, where work and family time was long, coincided with the school break for his children, the investigators said. While there, an assistant led Long and his family to visit a Dole pineapple plantation and a volcano after his official business was over, the report said.
Later, Long told the assistant that he would consult with an ethics lawyer to determine if the personal steps of the trips were appropriate, according to the report. After the FEMA Ethics Officer had told him that "the arrangement showed that he had used the traps of his office and abused his government's position," Long wrote a check for 309, $ 24 to the Treasury.
The investigation, which has been going on for weeks, was publicly advertised as FEMA began to take what's lefta full response to Hurricane Florence, which caused widespread floods in North Carolina and South Carolina. Last week, in the midst of reports of a quarrel between Long and Nielsen, it was revealed that the investigation had been referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, although authorities said Friday that Long would not not accused.
[FEMA chief considered quitting as feud with Homeland Security secretary boiled over]
By the time the news of the investigation was leaked, Long and his allies defended his use of government vehicles, noting that they were equipped with classified communication equipment in case he needed to speak with the president or other senior government officials. Its drivers told investigators, however, that Long "never used the [secure] package of communications in the vehicles that transported it, "the report said.
In interviews with investigators, Long acknowledged that he had participated in several of the trips and said that he thought his staff was "working to get some clarification" on the government's commuting policy. He also stated that he did not think he had to pay the necessary support for the performance of his duties as part of a presidential preparation directive requiring that the FEMA administrator ensure the continuity of federal government services at all times.
L & # 39; investigation was triggered after a long government vehicle rolled in was involved in an accident in North Carolina last November. In this document, the investigators detail a policy that allows him to traveling in government vehicles only during a urgency, noting that Homeland security the secretary must first give his approval and, if not, the cost of vehicles, wages and gasoline of drivers would be considered a marginal benefit for which Long could be taxed.
According to the report, Long told his associates that he could not afford the extra taxes.
Some of his staff, unhappy with this policy, insisted that the administrator be transported to and from his home, the report said. He describes a frenzied series of e-mails among FEMA staff and lawyers as they tried to settle the policy, if it should be respected and if Long had formally requested an exemption.
Already in October, some of FEMA's senior assistants told Long and his team that he could no longer be cared for and dropped off at his home. But the trips continued.
Two FEMA officials were suspended as part of the investigation.
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