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The White House dismissed the concerns that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is instructing employees to destroy qualified documents in the middle of the efforts of the Trump administration to close the agency.
The Interim Executive Secretary of USAID, Erica Carr, instructed employees to begin to crush and burn documents, according to a motion that government unions presented in a federal court on Tuesday.
But the documents remain available in computer systems, and the order occurs when customs and border protection of the United States are prepared to move to the USAID building, according to the White House spokeswoman, Anna Kelly.
“This was sent to approximately three dozen employees,” Kelly said in an X position on Tuesday night with respect to Carr’s order. “The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content of other agencies), and the originals still exist in the classified computer systems. More fake news hysteria!”
The order occurs when customs and border protection are prepared to move to the USAID building, according to the White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly. (Annabelle Gordon/Reuters)
All those involved in the process of eliminating the documents had a secret security authorization or more, and were not among those that were placed on administrative license, said an administration official to Fox News Digital Wednesday.
As a result, those involved were familiar with the content they were handling and were specifically designated by the agency to review and purge, said the official.
Thousands of employees in Usaid were either triggered or placed on administrative license In February, after the recommendations of the Government Efficiency Department (Doge) to implement cuts aimed at wasteful expenses.
Carr issued an email to the employees who indicate that “the documents will destroy the documents first and the burns bags are reserved for when the crusher is not available or needs a break,” Propublic said Tuesday.
The State Department, which Supervisa USAID did not respond to a request for comments from Fox News Digital.
The American Foreign Service Association, a union that represents those that serve in the foreign service of the United States and several other groups, presented a motion on Tuesday in a federal court in Washington, DC, requesting a temporary restriction order that blocks USAID to order employees to destroy documents.
Specifically, the groups stated in the presentation that Carr’s order “suggests a rapid destruction of the large -scale agency records that could not plausibly involve a reasoned evaluation of record retention obligations for relevant documents.”
The American Foreign Service Association said it would monitor the situation and pressed USAID officials to issue more guidance on the directive.
Trump administration reduces 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts, as shown in the documents
The former USAID employees leave the headquarters building in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2025. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
“The Federal Law is clear: the preservation of government records is essential for transparency, responsibility and integrity of the legal process,” said the American Foreign Service Association in a Tuesday statement.
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“The Federal Registries Law of 1950 and its implementation regulations establish strict requirements for the retention of official records, particularly those that can be relevant to legal procedures,” said the statement. “In addition, the illegal destruction of federal records could have serious legal consequences for any person aimed at acting in violation of the law.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio He said Tuesday that the State Department had completed a six -week review and would cancel more than 80% of USAID programs.
