Fate of FEMA leader in doubt as Florence cleanup continues

While Hurricane Florence barreled through the Carolinas, a different type of storm was brewing within the federal disaster relief agency tasked with responding to the fallout.

The fate of Brock Long, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was cast in doubt with revelations that he was being investigated by Homeland Security's internal watchdog and a congressional committee for the possible misuse of government vehicles.

The watchdog, the inspector general's office, has turned the review over to federal prosecutors to determine whether any criminal charges are warranted, according to a person familiar with the probe. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation and requested anonymity.

FILE- In this Oct. 31, 2017 file photo, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long testifies before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a hearing on the federal response to the 2017 hurricane season. The Wall Street Journal reports that Long is being investigated by Homeland Security's internal watchdog and a congressional committee for the possible misuse of government vehicles. (AP PhotoSusan Walsh, File)

Long, a well-respected emergency manager, says he is not focused on the probes.

"I am fully focused on those impacted by Hurricane Florence," he said in a statement Monday evening, after being asked for comment on the investigation.

But some emergency management experts say the investigations are a distraction for the beleaguered agency as it deals with the worst storm of the year.

Beverly Cigler, co-chair of a Hurricane Katrina task force set up by the American Society for Public Administration, said Long has been working hard but that "any organization has to have active engaged leadership at the very top."

"You don't want your FEMA administrator to be under investigation that's going to distract you somewhat no matter how focused you are," said Cigler, a Penn State distinguished professor emerita.

Rafael Lemaitre, who was a senior FEMA official in the Obama administration, said the timing was troubling.

"For these allegations to emerge in the hours before landfall of a major hurricane is a huge distraction to the work the FEMA administrator is doing," he said.

The agency is already under pressure after a grueling hurricane season last year that included Harvey, Irma and Maria. The federal response to Maria in Puerto Rico was widely criticized; President Donald Trump has lashed out over the criticism and suggested without evidence the revised death toll of nearly 3,000 was a conspiracy made up by Democrats.

Long has not been asked to resign. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who oversees FEMA, has said she has confidence in him. Other Trump administration officials have lost their jobs over ethics issues related to travel, but they involved more outsized allegations.

Long, 43, took over as FEMA administrator in June 2017. He has extensive emergency management experience — a federal requirement for the job since the Bush administration's bungled response to Katrina. He previously served in Alabama as the director of emergency management.

The investigations center on whether Long used government-owned vehicles for visits home to Hickory, North Carolina. It's not uncommon for an inspector general to refer cases so federal prosecutors can determine whether charges are warranted, and it doesn't mean he'll be charged with a crime.

Meanwhile, Long has until Oct. 1 to turn over documents to the House Oversight Committee related to travel and hotels possibly used by FEMA employees who were required to accompany him on the personal trips.

Long has largely kept a low public profile during Florence. He'd been front-and-center at press briefings as FEMA managed Hurricane Lane in Hawaii earlier this month. After the news broke of the investigation last week, Long appeared at a briefing in Washington to say he was fully focused on the storm preparations and would fully comply with the probe.

"Doing something unethical is not part of my DNA and it's not part of my track record in my whole entire career," Long said then.

But on Tuesday, he spoke at a North Carolina news conference with other emergency managers.

"It's really important for me to get out of D.C. and to be on the ground to be able to help North Carolina," Long said.

State emergency management head Mike Sprayberry thanked him for his work, as did Gov. Roy Cooper.

"Right now FEMA is giving us what we need," Cooper said.

Before the storm struck, FEMA had deployed more than 8 million bottles of water and meals, plus generators, blankets, tarps and cots to North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. It was acting on lessons learned following Maria, when it had underestimated the food and fresh water needed, and how hard it would be to get supplies to the island.

It's too early to gauge FEMA's response. While the storm has moved away, the rivers are still rising.

Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).

Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.

That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.

In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.

Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.

In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.

“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.

Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.

It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.

“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.

It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.

While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.

“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.

Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.

Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)