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Judge Rebukes DHS for 'Outrageous' False Statements Targeting Former FEMA Official
U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick said officials knowingly spread false claims about Mary Comans and used federal power to damage her reputation.
On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick formally cleared the name of former Federal Emergency Management Agency Chief Financial Officer Mary Comans, concluding a rare court-run name-clearing hearing regarding her abrupt firing.
Comans was fired on Feb. 11, 2025, after the Department of Homeland Security accused her of "circumventing leadership" to authorize nearly $60 million for New York City migrant hotels, claiming she acted "unilaterally."
Judge Fitzpatrick found that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Elon Musk, then head of the Department of Government Efficiency, "engaged in a coordinated public relations campaign" spreading claims that were "objectively and demonstrably false."
Posting Comans' picture served "no legitimate governmental interest and was little more than state-sanctioned intimidation," Fitzpatrick wrote, while officials knew allegations—including claims she funneled $58 million to migrant hotels—were false.
This ruling follows a July decision by U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, who ruled Comans was fired without due process, confirming that career civil servants retain legal rights as a shield against Executive Branch actions.