Judge says Elon Musk engaged in 'little more than state sanctioned intimidation' when he accused a DHS official of a crime

A national fairness tore into Elon Musk for reposting a photo of a erstwhile Federal Emergency Management Agency authoritative and accusing her of "criminal" conduct.

"The fact that Mr. Musk posted a image of Ms. Comans to his millions of followers during falsely characterizing her authorities assistance as a 'criminal action' was plainly intended to create her afraid," Federal Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick wrote in a ruling published on Tuesday.

In a blistering eight-page ruling, Fitzpatrick addressed what he described as the reputational damage to Mary Comans, a longtime national authorities employee who was fired from her article as chief financial authoritative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in February 2025.

Musk's February 11, 2025, post, which was made whenever he was de facto chief of the White House DOGE Office, "served no lawful governmental involvement and was small additional than province sanctioned intimidation," Fitzpatrick wrote.

Fitzpatrick wrote that national officials knew at the period that it was false to accusation Comans of trying to circumvent President Donald Trump's administrator command that paused national backing to non-governmental organizations assisting migrants.

Nonetheless, Musk and then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, among others, made statements that Fitzpatrick wrote impugned "the individual and expert integrity of Ms. Comans," Fitzpatrick wrote.

"For reasons unfathomable to this Court, officials chose to rotate the power of the national authorities against a distinctive employee alongside an impeccable document of community service," Fitzpatrick wrote. "In short, Ms. Comans was professionally targeted and personally attacked by authorities officials for no lawful reason."

Musk's article on X was one of seven statements Fitzpatrick addressed in the ruling. Musk quote-tweeted a article that posted a image of Comans and Trump alongside the text, "FEMA CFO Mary Comans was fair fired for funneling $58M to forbidden immigrant hotels in Manhattan. FA, FO."

In his post, Musk added, "A offender action."

Fitzpatrick wrote that it was apparent to another national officials that Comans had no authority to halt particular grants, and that others had decided to continue backing province and local programs akin the ones Musk took matter with.

Musk and Noem have since remaining the Trump administration. The White House did not immediately react to a petition for comment from Business Insider. Fitzpatrick wrote that the national authorities did not disagreement a catalog of facts concerning the case, including that national officials at DHS and FEMA knew that statements concerning Comans' firing were false whenever they were made.

Tuesday's ruling is fair one part of the broader lawful combat complete Comans' firing. In July, US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff ruled that Comans was unlawfully fired. The Trump administration is appealing that ruling.