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FIRST ON FOX: Thomas Fugate, a 22-year-old Trump appointee, spoke with Fox Information Digital after being forged into the highlight and criticized over his younger age, inexperience and function in President Donald Trump’s administration.
Fugate’s official title on the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) is Particular Assistant. Nevertheless, a number of shops reported that Fugate was the top of DHS’s Heart for Prevention Applications and Partnerships (CP3). CP3 is DHS’ lead workplace for terrorism and focused violence prevention.
The younger appointee and DHS denied these claims to Fox Information Digital.
“All choices got here down from coverage management, [the] undersecretary, deputy secretary, and chief of workers,” Fugate emphasised.
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Thomas Fugate, 22, is a Particular Assistant with the Division of Homeland Safety. (Division of Homeland Safety)
Fugate went on to say that CP3, a program which was gutted by an $18.5 million minimize final week, has a closely decreased function in comparison with earlier administrations as Trump’s DHS has downsized the division.
“Earlier than I acquired there, [CP3] was already flagged for waste, fraud, and abuse,” Fugate defined. “We’re not speaking a few large workplace of 80 folks with a variety of features. We’re speaking a few very area of interest and small, specialised workplace.”
Fugate mentioned the workplace is especially centered on administering a grant program.
“It’s solely if you take it out of context and blow it out of proportion that it then turns into a large downside the place folks assume I’m virtually working the FBI,” Fugate continued.
DHS additionally instructed Fox Information Digital that Fugate was by no means ready of management throughout the program, and even referred to him as a “low-level” staffer.
A number of media shops fretted over President Trump’s appointment of 22-year-old Thomas Fugate to a place with Homeland Safety. (Getty Pictures)
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“This complete smear marketing campaign round Thomas Fugate is a smokescreen to bury the rampant grift and waste festering within the CP3 program below the Biden Administration’s watch,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin instructed Fox. “Fugate by no means held the director function at CP3, and to indicate that he had operational management or exercised management over CP3 is just unfaithful, as now we have persistently instructed them.”
“The very fact a low-level 22-year-old staffer was in a position to establish the misappropriated spending and the next violent response to defend this woke, partisan spending by these on the left tells you precisely what this program was actually getting used for,” McLaughlin mentioned.
Fugate mentioned he began out with DHS at Border and Immigration earlier than transferring to CP3. (Getty Pictures)
As for his younger age and expertise, Fugate famous that he began out with DHS at Border and Immigration when the Undersecretary of Coverage requested him to briefly help at CP3.
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Previous to that, he interned on the Heritage Basis earlier than graduating from the College of Texas at San Antonio with a level in Politics and Regulation final Could.
Preston Mizell is a author with Fox Information Digital protecting breaking information. Story ideas may be despatched to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
