An email from Erica Carr, USAID’s acting executive secretary, indicated that the destruction was scheduled for Tuesday. The message thanked workers for their “assistance in clearing our classified safes and personnel documents.”
“Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break,” Carr wrote, per the NBC report.
While classified materials are sometimes destroyed in emergencies, former employees and a group representing foreign service workers say this directive is not approrpiate.
Legal groups opposing the administration’s efforts to shut down USAID filed an emergency motion on Tuesday to halt the destruction.
"Defendants are, as this motion is being filed, destroying documents with potential pertinence to this litigation," the motion stated. A Trump administration official stated that three dozen employees received the email and that the materials being destroyed were "courtesy content"—documents given to USAID by other agencies.
"Although Plaintiffs do not know at this moment which records are being destroyed, the destruction of records may severely undermine the agency’s ability to function. For example, destruction of records that contain information about the agency’s operations may make it extraordinarily difficult—if not impossible—to recreate and rebuild agency programming" if the lawsuit succeeds, the filing continued.
US District Judge Carl Nichols, who is overseeing the case, did not immediately rule on the request. He ordered both sides to submit a status report by Wednesday morning and propose a schedule for further proceedings.
"No documents relevant to litigation are classified—therefore, they are not part of this directive. They are clearing out their building because it’ll be used by Customs and Border Patrol," the official claimed.
"These are very old documents. They are in complete compliance with the Federal Records Act of 1950," the official continued to say. "Everyone involved in this process had a secret clearance or higher and was approved by the bureau of the documents that they were handling. A majority of the content is courtesy content. Most original copies are still in classified computer systems."
Mike Benz, who has tracked USAID for years, called the news a "five-alarm fire," adding: "Right now, as we speak, today, USAID is shredding and burning the contents of the agency's classified safes -- the key information needed to reconstruct the history of USAID's weaponization both at home and abroad. THIS MUST BE STOPPED!"
