Former FEMA CFO Mary Comans Files Proposed Findings Proving DHS and Elon Musk Made False Statements to Justify Firing
In a major development in her unlawful termination lawsuit against the Trump administration, former FEMA Chief Financial Officer Mary Comans filed proposed findings of fact in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on August 18, 2026. The filing presents internal communications proving that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leadership and Elon Musk (in his role as senior advisor and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE) made knowingly false public statements to justify Comans' abrupt termination in February 2025.
Comans was fired and publicly accused of "circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants," with DHS communications branding her and her colleagues "deep state activists." However, the new court filing reveals that on January 30, 2025, the DHS general counsel sent an email to FEMA’s Chief Counsel stating:
"Money for state/locals should keep flowing to state and local governments."
Following this direct guidance from DHS leadership, three payments totaling $59 million were approved by FEMA’s Grant Programs Directorate. None of these payments required Comans' review or approval, and she had no unilateral role in dispersing them. Craig Becker, managing counsel at the Democracy Defenders Fund, stated:
"The statements of DHS leaders and Elon Musk regarding Mary Comans were not mistakes, they were a deliberate, coordinated effort to smear a dedicated public servant."
In another significant escalation, Comans' lawyers filed additional court papers on August 20, 2026, asking the court to declare that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and political advisor Corey Lewandowski were the sources who leaked false information to conservative social media influencer Laura Loomer. Loomer had posted that Comans was fired for "illegally funding" migrant housing.
These filings systematically dismantle the administration's claims of misconduct ahead of an upcoming court-ordered "name-clearing hearing" before Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick, which was ordered by Judge Michael Nachmanoff after he found the administration violated Comans' constitutional right to due process.