WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the chief disaster agency of the United States, is again under public scrutiny Friday as facts emerged that it staged a fake press conference earlier this week.

    According to various news reports, the agency's deputy administrator, Harvey Johnson, had an unusually friendly audience at an Oct. 23 news briefing on his agency's response to the California wildfires with the participation of only his own spokesmen.

    FEMA drafted at least four of its employees to play the part of reporters at a hastily called news conference when no members of the media showed up.

    As a result, Johnson took questions like, "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?" from agency spokesmen Mike Widomski, Cindy Taylor, Pat Philbin and Ali Kirin.

    FEMA Administrator David Paulison was flying to California at the time. It is unclear whether he knew about the staged news conference.

    Johnson issued a statement Friday apologizing for the error and promised to change the agency's news procedures.

    Both the White House and the Homeland Security Department criticized FEMA's conduct.

    White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said it is not appropriate that the questions were posed by agency staffers instead of reporters, and the agency should take responsibility for it.

    The Homeland Security Department, which includes FEMA, said the incident is a "simply inexcusable and offensive mistake."

    The department's spokeswoman Laura Keehner, said punishment may apply in the case.

    FEMA had been heavily criticized for its sluggish response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.