Court watchers reacted with shock after a federal judge found that former officials in President Donald Trump’s administration knowingly spread false accusations against a fired official at a federal disaster agency.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick cleared the name of Mary Comans, the former chief financial officer of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in a written ruling Tuesday after a rare “name-clearing hearing” run by the court.
The judge found that officials including former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Elon Musk, then head of the Department of Government Efficiency, “engaged in a coordinated public relations campaign” to damage her reputation.
“WOW,” immigration policy expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick wrote on Bluesky, quoting the judge’s finding that “the attacks against Ms. Comans were based entirely on false information.”
“For reasons unfathomable to this Court, officials chose to turn the power of the federal government against a singular employee with an impeccable record of public service,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
“With no regard for the truth and with no consideration for the personal and professional effect on Ms. Comans, government officials exploited their access to mass media outlets to broadcast false information,” the judge added.
Comans, a career civil servant with more than 21 years of service, was fired on Feb. 11, 2025, according to the ruling, which said the only reason given was the president’s power under the Constitution.
The same day, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release that FEMA’s chief financial officer was fired “for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,” according to the ruling. The judge noted that the release implied Comans was a “deep state activist.”
The ruling found that DHS spokespeople repeated the claim to The New York Times, Fox News, and CNN. CNN was told that Comans “effectively laundered . . . forbidden funding.”
The ruling found that a DHS employee gave the accusation to political commentator Benny Johnson, while Noem and DHS special government employee Corey Lewandowski passed it to blogger Laura Loomer. The judge wrote that officials expected both to spread it to their large online followings.
In fact, Comans had no authority to send money to or from any grant recipient, and DOGE staff inside DHS had approved payments to state and local governments, the judge said.
The government did not object to Comans’ version of events, which meant it conceded the statements were false for purposes of the hearing, according to the ruling. Fitzpatrick also found that officials knew the claims were false when they made them.
The same day she was fired, Musk shared a photo of Comans on X with a post claiming she funneled $58 million to migrant hotels, and he called it a “criminal action,” the ruling said. The judge found the post “was clearly intended to make her afraid.”
“Posting Ms. Comans’ picture served no legitimate governmental interest and was little more than state-sanctioned intimidation,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
The ruling also found that Musk “knew or should have known” that his own subordinates had approved the payments. Musk left the government in May 2025, ABC News reported.
A district judge ruled in July that Comans was fired without due process and ordered the hearing, according to Fitzpatrick’s ruling. Justice Department lawyers had pushed to let the executive branch handle it instead.
Fitzpatrick wrote that “given the outrageous government conduct, including by those at the highest levels of DHS, in knowingly spreading false information about Ms. Comans, it is essential that this process be conducted by an independent judicial officer.”
“Armed only with false statements, high-ranking government officials undertook a premeditated campaign to impugn the personal and professional integrity of Ms. Comans, a nonpartisan, career public servant,” the judge concluded.
“Musk & Noem falsely told millions the FEMA CFO blew money on ‘luxury hotels,’” read a post on X from Norm Eisen, one of Comans’ attorneys. The post added, “The Trump regime is destructive, but @DDFund_ & partners fight back.”