A senior FEMA official responsible for overseeing the agency’s continuity programs has been suspended as part of an ongoing probe of FEMA Administrator Brock Long’s reportedly excessive use of FEMA vehicles, staff time, and taxpayer dollars, Politico reported Tuesday.
John Veatch, assistant administrator of National Continuity Programs at FEMA, was informed of the suspension without pay last Friday, Politico reported, citing two unnamed government officials, just as the agency dealt with Hurricane Florence’s landfall.
In addition to the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general’s investigation, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the investigation had been referred to prosecutors for possible criminal charges. Long has reportedly used government vehicles and drivers on frequent, lengthy trips between Washington, D.C. and his home in North Carolina. He also reportedly used taxpayer dollars to pay for staffers’ hotel rooms in North Carolina. “Maybe some policies were not developed around these vehicles that we will get cleared up and push forward,” he said Sunday of the probe. “So, yeah.”
