September 7, 2005
DOCUMENT: Crime
FEMA Boss's Katrina Spin Bid
Memo: Rescuers should "convey a positive image" of fed efforts
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FEMA Boss's Katrina Spin Bid
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FEMA Boss's Katrina Spin Bid -
FEMA Boss's Katrina Spin Bid -
FEMA Boss's Katrina Spin Bid
SEPTEMBER 7--With the lives of Hurricane Katrina victims in the balance, Federal Emergency Management Agency boss Michael Brown declared that rescue workers should make sure to 'convey a positive image of disaster operations,' according to an internal FEMA document. The embarrassing spin control directive came in an attachment to an August 29 memo Brown sent to Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff. In the memo, which Brown sent five hours after the hurricane made landfall, the FEMA head asked Chertoff to send 1000 DHS workers to the Gulf Coast region. The Brown document, first reported by the Associated Press, refers to Katrina as 'this near catastrophic event.' (3 pages)
