DHS Secretary: FEMA boss abused cars, but will not lose his job

WASHINGTON – The head of the Federal Disaster Response Agency has used government vehicles without permission, but will not lose his job, US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Friday.

William "Brock" Long, a director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was subjected to an investigation by the DHS oversight agency to divert government vehicles to Hickory, SC North. The information was leaked just as hurricane Florence was about to land at the beginning of the month.

Nielsen said in a statement on Friday that there was a long-standing practice of transporting FEMA administrators into government vehicles to ensure they could stay connected during a crisis. But despite this practice, the use of government vehicles for commuting was not officially allowed and this practice was eliminated in April.

Nielsen said the Homeland Security Inspector General's report had also found government vehicles long used for unofficial reasons.

She said she talked about the problems and Long agreed to pay the government back, even though it was unclear how much money there could be. She said that she had instructed the department to review the policy on commuter-work issues, to assess FEMA's communication needs so that officials are better connected during disasters and to review and train government vehicles.

"We had a productive conversation where we discussed my expectations regarding the agency's use of government vehicles," Nielsen said in a statement. "The administrator acknowledged that mistakes had been made and he took his personal responsibilities."

READ MORE: Hurricane Florence could cost billions of dollars to Carolina farms

The report of the Inspector General has not been made public. The House Oversight Committee also reviews the allegations and has asked Long to return all travel documents to the committee by October 1, particularly if his staff were housed in hotels paid for by taxpayers' money. .

According to one familiar with the investigation, the Office of the Inspector General assigned the review to federal prosecutors to determine whether criminal charges are warranted. It is not uncommon for an Inspector General to submit cases so that federal prosecutors can determine whether charges are warranted and that does not mean that he will be charged with a crime. The person was not allowed to speak publicly on the subject and asked for anonymity.

In the days following the Florence disaster, Long said he was not interested in the investigation and instead is working to help the region recover from the disaster. More than 40 people died and rising floods cut roads and drowned livestock.

In a statement released on Friday, Long said he fully accepted his responsibilities.

"The secretary and I are taking corrective action to prevent such mistakes from happening again in the future," he said. "I remain committed to FEMA's critical mission – to help people before, during and after disasters."

He has been the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency since June 2017, presiding over a particularly harrowing hurricane season involving Irma, Harvey and Maria, as well as forest fires in California. The response to Maria was strongly criticized and Long said FEMA had learned lessons on how to better prepare for this year's storms.

Other Trump administration officials lost their jobs due to ethical travel issues, but they implied more allegations. Former Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, resigned in July following allegations of massive spending on safety, first-class flights, and renting a loving condo .

Michael Balsamo, associate editor, contributed to this report.