USAID Workers Ordered to Destroy Documentation

A labor union representing U.S. Agency for International Development workers asked federal district court to intervene after they received an email telling them to shred and burn classified and personnel records.

Federal District Court Judge Carl Nichols set a deadline for both sides of the issue to brief him by Wednesday morning.

Donald Trump’s regime has been shutting down USAID. It has cut off most of the agency’s funding, ending 83% of its foreign aid programs, firing all but a few of the staff, abruptly recalling workers stationed overseas, and closing the headquarters.

Lawsuits are piling up about this. In at least one case, plaintiffs asked a judge to stop any document destruction so that evidence pertaining to the case will be preserved.

Even if there were no court cases for which documentation may be needed as evidence, the Federal Records Act of 1950 requires federal government officials to get approval from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) before destroying any records.

Instead, USAID workers were instructed via email to “shred as many documents first” and to “reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break.” It also said “the only labeling required on the burn bags are the words ‘SECRET’ and ‘USAID/(B/IO)’ in dark Sharpie, if possible.”

Click here for more details.