Scandal over Katrina sinks FEMA choice

PRESIDENT Trump’s choice for a top job at the Federal Emergency Management Agency has withdrawn his name after questions about his work during Hurricane Katrina.

Daniel A. Craig told NBC News on Wednesday that he had withdrawn from consideration as FEMA’s deputy administrator because of “the distraction this will cause the agency in a time they cannot afford to lose focus.”

The “distraction” stemmed from a previous investigation by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security into allegations that Craig profited in the response to Katrina.

Craig was director of recovery for FEMA from 2003 through 2005, though a 2011 investigation seen by NBC found that he was looking for a job with the Shaw Group and Fluor Corp., which received hundreds of millions of dollars in FEMA contracts for Katrina.

The former nominee ended up taking a different job as a lobbyist for a law firm when he left the agency in September 2005. He denies any wrongdoing.