USAID staff ordered to burn documents
Erica Carr, active executive director for USAID, reportedly sent out an email to the remaining USAID staff. The email called for the staff to convene at the former USAID headquarters to conduct a major document destruction operation. The email instructed them to have burn bags ready in case the shredders either needed a break or were not available.
From Politico:
A senior official at USAID instructed the agency’s remaining staff to convene at the agency’s now-former headquarters in Washington on Tuesday for an “all day” group effort to destroy documents stored there, many of which contain sensitive information.
The materials earmarked for destruction include contents of the agency’s “classified safes and personnel documents” at the Ronald Reagan Building, said an email sent by USAID’s acting executive director, Erica Carr, and obtained by POLITICO.
“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/” (agency shorthand for “bureau or independent office”) in dark Sharpie.
The email didn’t provide any reason for the document destruction. The building is being emptied out after mass layoffs, which may have disrupted routine document destruction timetables. Customs and Border Protection is planning to move into the USAID facility, having rented 390,000 square feet of office space in the building last month.
The effort also underscores the tumultuous way in which the Trump administration is dismantling an agency that once managed a $40 billion annual budget and had more than 10,000 staff around the world.
Additional Reading:
Kine, P., & Toosi, N. (2025, March 11). USAID official tells remaining staffers: Shred and burn all your documents. Politico. Link.
Category: DOGE, Government Incompetence, Society
What’s going on with Ret Navy CPT Mark Kelly?
I know he is a gun grabber, bit is he also a traitor?
Yes
I put as much validation in Elon’s comments as I do Kelly’s reply calling Elon “not a serious guy”. Elon is about as serious as they come.
I saw those comments too. Why did the “journalist” not challenge him on that statement? Really? I know because he works FOR the Dems not for the truth.
Let’s see what Elon has done?
Space X has revolutionized the space industry and made it affordable.
Space X will reach the planet Mars in our lifetime.
Tesla sells more EV’s than ALL the other manufacturers combined
Starlink is connecting some of the most remote parts of the world and making in-the-ground-cables obsolete
Neuralink is developing implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to allow people with paralysis to control computers and potentially restore lost functions
The Boring Company is an American infrastructure, tunnel construction service, and equipment company
And of course DOGE
How many lifetimes would it take Mark Kelly to do ONE of those things?
I don’t know that we should sell Sen Kelly short. He’s a graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy, a naval aviator who flew combat sorties in the Gulf War, then became an astronaut that flew on four Shuttle missions. He’s got two DFCs, a few Air Medals (one individual w/ “V”), and a Navy Commendation Medal w/ V.
Not that I agree with much of anything the guy says, but he’s lived an exceptional life of high accomplishment.
I don’t think he’d be sitting in the Senate if his wife hadn’t been shot though.
Well McCain had a commendable military career, as a sell out senator, not so much. Him and Teddy Kennedy holding hands clinched it for me. Kelly is pretty much in that boat.
Absolutely. Crenshaw too.
Kelly is a piece of shit and in it for himself, not the people of Arizona. I live here.
The more I watch politics, the more I think that it’d be a great way to become independently wealthy and get remembered as some sort of pillar of the community. Get my name on a bridge, highway, post office, commissary, parks, etc. All on the taxpayer’s dime.
Nobody knows. He only exists during election season. He’s pretty much a wholly-owned Chinese asset.
Kelly…
A representative from the CIA was quoted as saying; “no comment, but this shit isn’t over” as tears rolled down his cheeks.
What, pray tell, are they worried about being exposed? What are WE not supposed to see?
“You don’t think a hammer really costs $600, do you?”
If it doesn’t say marine or aviation grade on it, the answer would be no.
I heard on the radio that the price of the hammers were $900.00. Speaking about radio, how about
Richard Lanham and the Tempo Tones singing
“On Your Radio” 1957 on the Acme label. Was 12 years old when he sang it, same age as myself.
Shredding and burning official Gooberment documents? Sounds like rope and woodchipper time for the miscreants.
https://clip.cafe/silverado-1985/were-gonna-give-a-fair-trial-s1/
“We’re gonna give you a fair trial followed by a first class hangin’.”
Gee, that’s not shady, is it?
While I love a good conspiracy theory, this sounds like above the board routine action necessary to clean out the building for future occupants. If it for some reason also included destroying hard drives, then I would believe it was illicit!
If I were doing academic research for a paper that I intended to submit for peer review, and for publishing in an academic journal, I would most certainly be interested in those documents being burned. This is especially the case when DOGE uncovered a lot of shenanigans regarding USAID disbursements.
That brings up the question… If it was a “routine action”, why would the send out an email directing how to dispose of? If a reminder on how to dispose of, there should be a trail of emails stating such going back xx number of years.
The “personnel documents” are the most important IMHO. The “proof” of the existence, or rather lack thereof, of all those ghost employees would be in those files.
As far as saving the hard drives, yes, critically important. But the most important, read damning, stuff will never be on a computer, anywhere, ever.
“…this tape will self destruct in five (5) seconds…” poof! (IYKYK…full disclosure hint…A young Gun Bunny had the HOTS for “Cinnamon”)
The hard drives of individual workstations absolutely would be destroyed, but there’s a tracked process for that. It’s one of many services we offer. When a workstation is turned in at end-of-life, the property book manager turns it in on a trackable work order. That work order is then assigned to a guy like me, who removes the hard drive, documents the removal of said hard drive by manufacturer, model, serial number and work order, electronically signed by me. This is archived until the second coming. The drive is then degaussed three times and destroyed via hydraulic punch. The workstation then goes back to the owner, who turns it into DRMO or some other similar government resale operation. Any other means of destruction is pretty much a felony.
Should already be in custody, by now. It’s nice to have access to such a cultivated list of government subversives within the most corrupt agency in the federal system.
They should bury ole Erica under the jail, seems she missed the Biden pardon list.
Be a real shame if the Epstein Book/JFK Files, An Artist’s Laptop, or a buncha missing emails happened to fall into those shredders or burn bags. Hard to release what doesn’t exist any more.
“These documents are being destroyed to protect the guilty.” You know…for National Security reasons.
You don’t hate them enough.
Prepare…it ain’t over by a long shot.
Just wondering if Donald Trump will have FBI agents stationed in front of the building, with every entry draped in “Do Not Enter; Crime Scene”? At least kill power to the building, no power, no shredders.
So let me get this straight… You send out an email via an official US Government system that is archived until the second coming, ordering the illegal destruction of official US Government document that are supposed to be archived until just before the second coming… Dtupidity at its highest level. At least HIllary had the brains to do that stuff over an illegal server. Nicest thing I ever said about her.
just a heads up on this story. This has the original e-mail on it, “supposedly”. But it looks like they were destroying the old courtesy copy Secret level and below paper documents, because they’re moving out of the building. Nothing nefarious. Let’s keep the hysteria to a gentle simmer. There’s plenty of heat, we’ll add a little water, flavor with some spicy anecdotes, our favorite words, a little liberal sauce and tears. You know, Make America.
https://x.com/AnnaKelly47/status/1899596521558945988 forgot the link darn it.
No dice, especially after what was discovered with USAID spending. That level of fraud makes every document in that building important, especially if justice is going to take action on the criminal or civil front.
I’m not going by claims that these hard copies are matched by what is on the servers, and even then, there are procedures in place to destroy classified documents that don’t involve an email instructing people to label things as classified. Given what has been discovered on USAID, it would’ve been better had these documents been boxed up and moved elsewhere where it could be determined if they’re not relevant either to national security or to any pending court cases.
After Kayleigh McEnany, Mark Milley, Mike Pompeo, etc., I’d take what Anna Kelly and the others say with a grain of salt.
On a side note, I remember when folks insinuated that “nothing nefarious” was to be had.
Aren’t they supposed to get permission from the National Archives?
We need to remember the official government employee mantra, “It’s easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission.” When found out that you knew better all along, you use the Clinton defense; “What difference, at this point, does it make?”