Background: Mary Comans (FEMA/YouTube). Left inset: An X post from Elon Musk about Mary Comans (District of Columbia/Mary Comans). Right inset: President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A senior official who was sent packing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) last month says she was “unlawfully terminated” and the Trump administration’s actions after her firing, which included sending out press releases claiming she circumvented leadership to “unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,” causing her to be the victim of an online smear campaign.
Mary Comans, one of four FEMA officials axed in mid-February, filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing the Department of Homeland Security and her former employer of causing her to be defamed in social media posts, including claims made on X by unofficial DOGE leader Elon Musk, who purportedly spearheaded the efforts to boot Comans and the others from office.
“The Defendants falsely, deliberately and publicly portrayed Ms. Comans’ actions in such a manner that third parties have asserted her conduct to have been criminal, which is defamation per se, thereby further contributing to the damages she has suffered,” Comans’ complaint says.
On Feb. 10, Musk posted on X that his team had allegedly stumbled upon “egregious” payments being made and authorized by FEMA officials, including Comans, to house migrants in “luxury hotels” with money that was supposed to be set aside for disaster relief.
“The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,” Musk claimed. “Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order. That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals! A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds.”
In reality, the money actually came from the Shelter and Services Program and was pulled from the combined DHS budget for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FEMA — both DHS agencies — which reportedly coordinated to administer the grants, according to The New York Times and The Associated Press.
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Comans alleged in her suit Tuesday that it’s ultimately the Trump administration that is to blame for the defamation and accusations being doled out at her. She said it all started on Feb. 11 after she was fired “without any warning, prior disciplinary history or the statutory notice required by applicable laws,” per Comans’ complaint.
“That same day Defendant DHS publicly issued a press release falsely stating that Ms. Comans had been fired ‘for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,”” the complaint says.
“The release also noted that ‘[u]nder President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS will not sit idly and allow deepstate activists to undermine the will and safety of the American people,’” the document adds. “Because of the issuance of the press release and other steps undertaken by the Defendants, Ms. Comans’ actions were widely, publicly and falsely condemned as ‘illegal’ and ‘criminal’ by rightwing influencers, to include Elon Musk, on various social media platforms and news outlets.”
Posts from Musk and “rightwing influencer” Laura Loomer are included in Comans’ complaint and show her being accused of “criminal” and “illegal” behavior. Comans points out in the document that she has a clean track record and has not been charged with any crimes.
“Ms. Comans was an exemplary employee with absolutely no disciplinary history and had received ‘Achieved Excellence’ ratings for every year that she served as an SES,” her complaint says. “As a member of the civil and Senior Executive services, Ms. Comans was entitled to procedural and substantive due process and her removal by the Defendants without such process was unlawful.”
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Comans’ suit and termination comes as the Trump administration continues to carry out mass firings across multiple government agencies, which he has been doing since taking office. The former FEMA official condemned the “unprecedented number of federal employees with civil service protections” being let go by administration officials, including Biden ethics enforcer Hampton Dellinger from the Office of Special Counsel.
Like Comans, these federal employees have “similarly been unlawfully terminated” without cause or due process, as well as “suffered harms under the Privacy Act through unlawful disclosures (including senior officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for example),” according to her suit.
As a result, Comans said she is “simultaneously” filing a complaint with the Merit System Protection Board to specifically address her termination and due process claims as a way to “protect all rights and remedies that are or should normally be available” to government workers.
Attempts by Law&Crime to reach DHS and FEMA officials for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.
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