Grisafe’s participation in the January 6 rally alarmed some FEMA officials, according to a person familiar with the matter, and several officials reported the fact to the DHS Inspector General and the FBI.
Grisafe currently serves as one of FEMA’s top political nominees in the role of associate administrator for resilience, where he helps “oversee and manage FEMA’s national preparedness, mitigation, insurance, continuity and subsidy programs”, according to his official biography. The Coast Guard veteran was part of the response efforts to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita and served in the Pentagon in a variety of consultant roles before joining FEMA last August.
A FEMA spokesman said in a statement that Grisafe “was on leave on January 6. FEMA does not comment on how employees choose to spend their personal time ”. The spokesman noted that Grisafe “was not present at the opening security briefing with the vice president” that took place on Thursday, but did not elaborate on whether he was more generally involved in FEMA’s efforts to “promote an improved preparation stance “for Inauguration.
DHS OIG did not return a request for comment. The FBI declined to comment.
FEMA announced in a press release on Thursday that it is “fully engaged” and “actively coordinating with our state, local and federal partners in support of the 59th presidential inauguration” and “provided planning, training and support for the exercise of our government federal, state and local partners ”until the inauguration.
Lawmakers have been pushing federal agencies to investigate whether anyone in their ranks participated in the January 6 riot. In a statement to POLITICO, the chairman of the House’s Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson, made no reference to Grisafe, but said that any Trump official who may have participated in the “attack on the Capitol” should be prevented from any aspect of security. possession.
“They should not only resign, but the authorities should also be alerted,” said Thompson.