Feds Raid Orofino Flood Office Agents Bust Open Crates, Remove Documents In Early Morning Search For Possible Fraud

Federal agents have raided Clearwater County’s flood recovery center, prying open crates with crowbars and driving away with documents.

The raid began at 7 a.m., Friday, when a woman working at the courthouse was told members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had a search warrant for the basement office.

County Commission Chairman Earl Pickett said the agents would not tell him why it was being searched, only that they were looking for evidence of “possible criminal intent to defraud the government.”

Several employees of the center were handed subpoenas to a grand jury in August in Boise.

Agency spokesman Mike Howard refused to elaborate on the search but did explain why the agency would execute a warrant.

“We do have an obligation to be prudent stewards of taxpayer dollars, and if there are anomalies or irregularities, we need to check them out,” he said.

Pickett said the flood records always have been open to FEMA and the state Bureau of Disaster Services. A raid with Idaho State Police officers standing close by was unnecessary, he said.

“I felt intimidated by their tactics. It was more or less ‘Get out of my way, I’m in charge here,”’ he said.

Pickett said the commissioners and others working with the recovery center have been concerned about being in compliance with federal rules as long as they have been dealing with the agency.

“We have asked numerous times for the rules and regulations to be provided in writing instead of verbally and we have yet to receive those.”

When much of the money was coming into the county, he said, the commissioners repeatedly asked for the guidelines in writing and were told they were still in draft form.

Clearwater County has received “several millions” in flood recovery money, he said, and a check for $506,000 has just arrived.