WASHINGTON – The government of President Donald Trump has deported the former coast guard commander Linda Fagan from her house with three hours of notice period on Tuesday – not even enough time to collect her personal effects – according to two people who are familiar with the incident.
Fagan, an admiral of four stars and the first woman to led a branch of the army, was removed from her post as the top officer of the Coast Guard on Trump's second day in the office. Civil servants of the Homeland Security department – who supervise the coast guard – mentioned border security issues and an “excessive focus” on diversity, equity and inclusion between the reasons for her dismissal.
Fagan, who was called commander in 2022, made a handy target for a new president who wanted to bow his muscle. The process for firing her was less complex than for rejecting leaders of the four most important branches of the army. More than that, the move was able to send signals about his anti-dei agenda and the desire to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and goods to the United States.
Throwing her house in the short term went one step further.
“It's small and it's personal,” said a Fagan fellow.
But a DHS officer prevented it from making them moved out of the house with Joint Base Anacostia Bolling.
“She was finished two weeks ago today and she was still alive in those admiral enclosures,” said the civil servant, and confirmed that Fagan had told to leave. The officer said they could not confirm or deny the three -hour timeline.
NBC News reached for the White House and the Coast Guard for Comment.
Coastguard leaders had given Fagan a statement of 60 days to find new homes, according to one of the sources. But on Tuesday the officials of domestic security told the acting commander, Kevin Lunday, that he had to kick her because “the president wants her from quarters,” said one of the people who are familiar with the incident.
The DHS officer was unable to immediately check whether the directive actually came from Trump or whether his name would have been invoked without his knowledge.
Lunday then announced on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Fagan that she had three hours to get out. Shortly thereafter, her team received a phone call from assistants to Sean Plankey, a DHS senior adviser and retired coast guard officer, who instructed her to release the house so that the interior could be photographed, according to one of the sources.
“It is a very strange power play,” said the Fagan bondmate.
Fagan pushed back on DHS officials who took photos of the inside of the house.
“I don't power them to enter my house, whether I am there or not,” she told another official of the Coast Guard. Lunday gave that back to the Piney team and noted that an attempt to gain access to the house would come down to entering one of the sources. But Fagan left.
She left the house “with many – perhaps all – of her personal articles and household goods that are still there,” said a former American military officer. She spent the night with friends.
United States Transportation Command is now responsible for moving its personal effects outside the house.
“She had another place to stay,” said the DHS officer. “We still offer its housing.”
The civil servant was unable to say what form of accommodation, and the Fagan fellow fellow said that an alternative was not offered to her as part of the discussion about her that the building is leaving.
This article was originally published on nbcnews.com
