In the fall of 2004, with the presidential election on the horizon, the key battleground state of Florida was facing its second hurricane in less than a month.
In response, FEMA awarded millions of dollars in disaster funds to residents of Miami-Dade County, even though the area did not experience hurricane conditions.
FEMA officials, the governor and the White House steadfastly denied suggestions that politics played a role in the distribution of hurricane aid in Florida.
But records contained in hundreds of pages of e-mails of Governor Jeb Bush suggest otherwise. According to the documents, a federal consultant to FEMA predicted that a disaster could reflect poorly on President Bush and suggested that his re-election staff be brought in to minimize any political liability.
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