Judge finds Elon Musk, Kristi Noem engaged in premeditated campaign to smear ex-FEMA official

Updated on: October 15, 2026 / 4:26 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A federal judge on Tuesday found that billionaire Elon Musk and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as well as other senior Trump administration officials, engaged in a coordinated campaign to spread false information about a former FEMA official and impugn her integrity.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick condemned the Trump administration for what he said was "outrageous" conduct targeting Mary Comans, who he said was "professionally targeted and personally attacked by government officials for no legitimate reason."

Comans, a career civil servant, was most recently the chief financial officer at FEMA until she was fired in February 2025 without cause.

While Comans was told that her firing was an exercise of the president's power to remove executive officials, the Department of Homeland Security published a press release that falsely accused her of "circumventing" agency leaders to make "egregious" payments to New York City for luxury hotels for undocumented migrants. The Trump administration also accused her of violating an executive order signed by President Trump on the first day of his second term that directed federal agencies to pause funding to nongovernmental organizations providing services to…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/