Court asked to intervene after email tells USAID workers to destroy
classified documents
[March 12, 2025]
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and FARNOUSH AMIRI
WASHINGTON (AP) — A union for U.S. Agency for International Development
contractors asked a federal judge Tuesday to intervene in any
destruction of classified documents after an email ordered staffers to
help burn and shred agency records.
Judge Carl Nichols set a Wednesday morning deadline for the plaintiffs
and the government to brief him on the issue. A person familiar with the
email who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal
verified that it was sent to at least some essential personnel.
It comes as the Trump administration has been dismantling USAID, cutting
off most federal funding and terminating 83% of humanitarian and
development programs abroad, pulling all but a few hundred staffers off
the job, and shutting down the agency's Washington headquarters.
Lawsuits are mounting over the abrupt shutdown of most U.S. foreign
assistance and the targeting of the aid agency. In the latest court
challenge, Personal Services Contractor Association, representing
thousands of contractors now furloughed or fired from USAID, asked the
judge to stop any document destruction to preserve evidence.
The email was sent under the name of Erica Carr — the acting executive
secretary at USAID — and bears a USAID logo.
“Thank you for your assistance in clearing our classified safes and
personnel documents” at USAID headquarters in Washington, it begins.
It directed staffers to report to work starting Tuesday. “Shred as many
documents first,” then stuff remaining classified material into
designated bags for burning if the demand on the shredder becomes too
great, the email instructed.
Staffers were told to write “secret” on the bag with a marker.
The State Department did not immediately respond to questions about the
email, including whether officials were following the legally required
procedures in any destruction of documents.
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Flowers and a sign are placed outside the headquarters of the U.S.
Agency for International Development, or USAID, Feb. 7, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)
The collection, retention and disposal of classified material and
federal records are closely regulated by federal law. Improper
handling or disposal can be charged as a crime.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, accused the Trump administration of not complying
with federal records law.
“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.
A group representing USAID workers, the American Foreign Service
Association, said in a statement that it feared documents being
destroyed could be relevant to the ongoing lawsuits over USAID's
firings and program terminations.
The classified documents at USAID emerged last month when the Trump
administration put the agency's top two security officials on leave
after they refused to grant members of Elon Musk's
government-cutting teams access to classified material.
The Associated Press reported that the classified material included
intelligence reports. Kate Miller, who serves on an advisory board
for DOGE, said at the time that no classified material was accessed
“without proper security clearances.”
The wide firings at USAID have left relatively few staffers with
access to agency systems.
___
Amiri reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writer
Lindsay Whitehurst contributed from Washington.
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