华夫饼屋传送员格雷格·菲利普斯仍在特朗普政府的工资单上

Gregg Phillips, an election denier who once claimed he teleported to a Waffle House , says he is still working in the Trump administration , after he was reportedly removed from his influential role overseeing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s emergency response efforts in June. While it remains unclear what Phillips has been working on in the administration since stepping away as head of the Office of Response and Recovery, on Sunday he wrote on Truth Social , “I have been in the admin since last year. I’ll be leaving soon to rejoin the fight.” One day later, he was pictured at a Department of Justice building alongside Ed Martin, the former US pardon attorney whom President Donald Trump last week announced would be departing the administration to “fight legal battles for the upcoming midterm election.” “今天很高兴与我们的朋友埃德·马丁一起在华盛顿特区进行访问，”菲利普斯在 Truth Social 上写道。 “Haters are gonna hate this.” Martin and the Department of Justice did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment about Phillips’ role in the administration. Phillips declined to comment. A FEMA spokesperson directed WIRED to a statement it issued in June saying Phillips was “taking leave for personal reasons.” When asked if Phillips was still employed by the agency and still on leave, it didn’t respond. Phillips is on administrative leave, according to the White House, which also confirmed that Martin is still working in the administration until September 4. Federal employees on administrative leave are entitled to full pay and benefits. Phillips has long promoted baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud, claiming in 2016 that more than 3 million non-citizens voted in the presidential election, robbing Trump of winning the popular vote. 2017 年上任几天后，特朗普就宣扬了菲利普斯的虚假言论。 In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, Phillips gained further notoriety when the group he was involved with, True the Vote, provided the data that underpinned the debunked film 2000 Mules , which falsely alleged that a network of individuals was paid to illegally collect and deposit ballots in drop boxes. A 2022 investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting found that True the Vote has raised millions of dollars from donors by repeatedly promising to uncover evidence of election fraud but failing to do so.据 CIR 报道，其中大部分资金流向了菲利普斯 (Phillips) 控制的公司，并向 True the Vote 的创始人凯瑟琳·恩格尔布雷希特 (Catherine Engelbrecht) 提供了贷款。 Phillips was appointed last December to head up FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery despite no past experience working in emergency response. In June, following his departure, the agency thanked Phillips for his “his service, dedication, and leadership,” adding that “he has played a pivotal role in stabilizing the Office of Response and Recovery and advancing key reforms to strengthen our mission delivery.” Three sources at FEMA, who were granted anonymity due to fears of recrimination by the administration, tell WIRED that Phillips has not been seen at FEMA’s headquarters since June. When