KEEL-AM in Shreveport picked up an interesting story last night arising from the aftermath of this month’s flooding there and FEMA’s arrival on the scene to provide relief…

Danny Lawler is best known as publisher of The Inquisitor newspaper. But this weekend Lawler claims he witnessed widespread fraud as FEMA officials were handing out foodstamp vouchers to, not only local flood victims, but anyone who got in line.

KEEL asked for a response from the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, and got this…

“As with all programs, DCFS works to ensure this program and others are available for eligible applicants by aggressively protecting against fraud in benefits programs year round. Strong safeguards are in place to ensure that only eligible citizens receive DSNAP benefits, to identify those who are dishonest about their eligibility, and to pursue recoupment and/or prosecution.”

Whether this is one of those social media myths which run out of control before we find out it never had the benefit of truth or not is a good question. It isn’t hard to believe stories of waste, fraud and abuse coming out of FEMA, particularly given this state’s experiences following Katrina and other natural disasters.

We looked for the post on Lawler’s Facebook page, however, and didn’t find it. That might indicate he’s taken it down.

The guess here is this probably didn’t happen and by the end of the week there will be lots of denials. Wouldn’t be surprised either way, though.