The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, acting Director David Richardson, resigned Monday morning after receiving a stern ultimatum from none other than President Donald J. Trump: The president, an administration source told Real Raw News, said to Richardson, “Leave while you still can or else.”
His tenure at the agency lasted only six months; Trump appointed him in May after firing Cameron Hamilton, citing ineffectual leadership, deception, and failing three polygraph exams as reasons for his ouster. Richardson stepped in to fill Cameron’s shoes, vowing to rehabilitate FEMA’s disastrous public image even as the president began slimming down the corrupt institution. But within a week of arriving at FEMA’s headquarters, he started unravelling, declaring that he, and he alone, would speak for FEMA. In an agency-wide memo, he forbade subordinates from discussing their duties with family or the press and threatened to summarily fire anyone who disobeyed his rule.
By week four, Richardson became unnaturally reclusive, often locking himself in his office, refusing to answer emails and phone calls, and indefinitely postponing meetings with underlings and superiors alike. “Hold my calls, reschedule appointments,” he would bark at his secretary before retreating to his office, shutting the blinds, and locking the door. He wouldn’t even accept his boss’s, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, telephone calls.
“I run FEMA, not that cos-playing bitch,” Richardson reportedly told his secretary.
According to our source, Richardson was addicted to opiates like hydrocodone and oxycontin and benzodiazepines like Ambien and Xanax, the combination of which triggered intense mood swings that either had him bouncing off the walls or effectively catatonic.
“One day, his office looked like a hurricane had hit it; he’d toppled filing cabinets, his desk, and thrown his computers to the ground—a whirlwind of destruction. The next day, he’d be asleep in his office the entire day, his head on the desk. It was a bad situation that only got worse,” our source said.
In September, he stopped reporting to the office, instead opting to “work from home” because he didn’t want to be burdened by annoying inconveniences. His eccentric behavior, naturally, hadn’t gone unnoticed by Noem or the White House. On September 17, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller phoned Richardson, beseeching him to seek treatment for substance abuse or be replaced.
“Replace me? I don’t work for FEMA; I am FEMA,” Richardson said.
It’s unclear why he wasn’t terminated immediately. Over the next month, he grew more ostentatious. On October 19, he distributed a department-wide memo announcing his desire to restore FEMA’s autonomy to Obama and Biden-era levels, when the agency had unlimited authority and unrestricted access to weapons. “Why the fuck is Trump letting ICE have guns and taking ours, giving our money to ICE,” Richardson wrote.
“I’ll bring back the days when Americans trembled at the mention of FEMA,” Richardson said in an October 26 memorandum. “Prepare yourselves, I’ll bring back the glory days.”
Presumably, the “glory days” referenced FEMA’s reign of terror over American citizens in the aftermath of natural/manmade disasters, a time when the FEMA Gestapo murdered innocents and pillaged homes following earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and conflagrations. “I am FEMA, obey me or face obliteration,” the lunatic Richardson told his people.
It’s uncertain whether drug addiction or an unquenchable thirst for power drove Richardson’s psychosis, but, finally, President Trump realized he had appointed a monster to helm FEMA. Yesterday morning, four DHS agents showed up at Richardson’s house and relayed Trump’s proposition. Retire gracefully or get ready for GITMO. Momentarily lucid, Richardson said he would retire and admitted that his addiction to narcotics had fueled his discontent.
“We might still send this fucker to GITMO,” our source said. “Absolution doesn’t come easily.”