OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:31 AM PT — Thursday, September 12, 2019
As Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts continue, another member of the Trump administration is at the center of a lingering controversy. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported orders for the NOAA to support the president’s claims about the storm were given by acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
The official reportedly told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to have the agency issue a correction about Dorian’s path to include Alabama. The order came after the president appeared to contradict the National Weather Service, but President Trump is refuting that report.
President Donald Trump, left, listens as Kenneth Graham, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, on screen, gives an update during a briefing about Hurricane Dorian at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, in Washington, at right of Trump is Acting Administrator Pete Gaynor, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler, and Neil Jacobs, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“No, I never did that. I never did that. That’s a whole hoax by the fake news media when they talk about the hurricane and when they talk about Florida and they talk about Alabama, that’s just fake news. It was right from the beginning — was a fake story.” — President Trump
When the acting head of NOAA refused to follow orders, Secretary Ross reportedly threatened to fire agency personnel, which is something his office denies. Afterwards, NOAA released a statement in support of the president’s position.
