WASHINGTON (AP) —
“I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I’ve seen since I’ve been in government,” Michael Chertoff said.
“I have made unambiguously clear, in Anglo-Saxon prose, that it is not to ever happen again and there will be appropriate disciplinary action taken against those people who exhibited what I regard as extraordinarily poor judgment,” the secretary said.
Asked specifically if he planned to fire anyone at FEMA, which is part of his department, Mr. Chertoff declined to say, citing personnel rules.
“There will be appropriate discipline,” he told reporters.
Mr. Chertoff said that he knew nothing about the matter until after it happened and that he “can’t explain why it happened.”
The White House scolded FEMA on Friday for the faux press conference about assistance to victims of wildfires in Southern California.
The agency — much maligned for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — arranged to have FEMA employees play the part of reporters at the event Tuesday and question Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the deputy director.
The questions were soft and gratuitous.
“I’m very happy with FEMA’s response,” Adm. Johnson said in reply to one query from an agency employee.
FEMA gave reporters 15 minutes notice about Tuesday’s press conference. But because of the short notice, the agency made available an 800 number so reporters could call in. Many did, although it was a listen-only arrangement.
Adm. Johnson said Friday that FEMA’s goal was “to get information out as soon as possible and in trying to do so we made an error in judgment.”
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