The Frank
Home
Today's Fastrack
About
Subscribe
USAID Employees Ordered to Shred or Burn Classified Docs — Court Steps In

USAID Employees Ordered to Shred or Burn Classified Docs — Court Steps In

author
author

The Frank Staff

The Frank Staff.
[email protected]
@TheFrank_com
The Frank Staff
author

The Frank Staff

The Frank Staff.
[email protected]
@TheFrank_com

Invalid Date

·

0 min read

Share options

Email
Facebook
X
Telegram
WhatsApp
Reddit

A senior official at the U.S. Agency for International Development ordered the agency’s remaining employees to destroy internal documents at the now-former headquarters in Washington on Tuesday, according to an email sent to staff, setting off a legal challenge on Tuesday.

Employees were instructed to destroy items in the agency’s “classified safes and personnel documents” on Tuesday at the Ronald Reagan Building, according to an email sent by the agency’s acting executive director, Erica Carr, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner.

“Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break,” the email said. Carr instructed staff to label the burn bags with the words “SECRET” and “USAID/B/IO/,” which is an agency abbreviation for “bureau or independent office.” The email didn’t provide any reason for the document destruction.

Following news of the email, unions representing USAID workers and federal employees asked a judge to intervene in any destruction of classified documents. The American Federation of Government Employees and American Foreign Service Association allege that Trump overstepped his authority by shuttering the independent agency established by Congress.

The plaintiffs asked U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols for a temporary restraining order to block the destruction of records and argued that the loss of vital information could prevent USAID from resuming operations if they prevail in the case. Nichols set a Wednesday morning deadline for both sides to submit a status report.

White House Deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said the email was sent to “roughly three dozen employees” and downplayed the coverage of the burn orders as “more fake news hysteria.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection is planning to move into the USAID facility.

“The USAID building will soon be occupied by CBP. This was sent to roughly three dozen employees. The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems,” she wrote in a post on X. “More fake news hysteria!”

In a separate case, a federal judge ruled on Monday that the Trump administration cannot refuse to spend foreign aid appropriated by Congress. However, Judge Amir H. Ali stopped short of ordering Trump officials to restore the canceled contracts.

The agency has terminated thousands of employees and contracts, leaving only a few hundred staffers on the job and shutting down the agency’s headquarters. This comes after the Trump administration canceled 83% of U.S. foreign aid contracts on Monday.

“The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X early Monday morning.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said it appears the Trump administration has not been complying with the Federal Records Act.

“Haphazardly shredding and burning USAID documents and personnel files seems like a great way to get rid of evidence of wrongdoing when you’re illegally dismantling the agency,” Meeks said in a statement.

According to an aide, Democratic staff on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has also reached out to USAID and the State Department for more information about how they are complying with the records laws.

Share options

Email
Facebook
X
Telegram
WhatsApp
Reddit

Minneapolis Prepares for Possible Derek Chauvin Pardon

May 14, 2025

3 min

Trump Meets Syria's President, Agrees to End Sanctions

May 14, 2025

2 min

Menendez Brothers Close to Freedom: Judge Reduces Murder Sentences

May 14, 2025

4 min

Biden’s Last-Minute Pardons Under Federal Investigation

May 14, 2025

2 min

USAID Contracting Officer Charged with Pandemic Bailout Fraud

May 14, 2025

3 min

The US Nuke Base Hidden Under Greenland's Ice for Decades

May 14, 2025

5 min

Government Funding for Planned Parenthood at All-Time High

May 14, 2025

3 min

Wisconsin Judge Indicted for Helping Illegal Migrant Evade ICE

May 14, 2025

2 min

Judge Approves Trump's Use of Alien Enemies Act for Deportations

May 14, 2025

3 min

Trump Signs $142 Billion Weapons Deal with Saudi Arabia

May 14, 2025

4 min

Trump to Lift Sanctions on Syria

May 14, 2025

5 min

EPA's Lee Zeldin to Kill Car Feature ‘Everyone Hates’

May 14, 2025

2 min

NY Assisted Dying Bill Moves Forward

May 14, 2025

2 min

Single Mom Who Beat Cancer 4 Times Killed by Random Bullet Fired at Home

May 14, 2025

1 min

Trump Secures $600 Billion in Investments from Saudi Arabia

May 14, 2025

1 min

Ron Johnson to Vote 'No' on House Tax Bill

May 13, 2025

1 min

April CPI Report: Inflation Falls to 2.3%, Lowest Since 2021

May 14, 2025

3 min

Diddy Trial Day 2: Cassie Ventura Testifies

May 13, 2025

4 min

Small Nodule Discovered in Biden's Prostate

May 13, 2025

<1 min

DNC Moves to Oust David Hogg as Vice Chair

May 13, 2025

2 min

  • Today's Fastrack
  • About
  • Contact
  • Policy & Terms
  • Recaptcha