{"id":108258,"date":"2025-03-11T18:07:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T23:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=108258"},"modified":"2025-03-11T18:25:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T23:25:04","slug":"108258","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=108258","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If they\u2019re being told to break recordkeeping laws it\u2019s because the records reveal they broke worse laws.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">This is like what happens when a regime that\u2019s committed war crimes is about to lose a war. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Uvcfvg3elq\">https:\/\/t.co\/Uvcfvg3elq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jarrett Stepman (@JarrettStepman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JarrettStepman\/status\/1899582834257412238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"hl\" title=\"WHAT? USAID Senior Staffer Instructs Remaining Staff to Convene for an 'All Day' Document Destruction\" href=\"https:\/\/redstate.com\/jenniferoo\/2025\/03\/11\/senior-usaid-senior-staffer-instructions-remaining-staff-to-convene-for-an-all-day-document-destruction-n2186550\">WHAT? USAID Senior Staffer Instructs Remaining Staff to Convene for an &#8216;All Day&#8217; Document Destruction<\/a><\/p>\n<p>After Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to X on Monday to declare that 83 percent of the USAID programs would be cancelled and contracts rescinded, a curious memo from a USAID senior staffer obtained by POLITICO instructed remaining staffers to convene at the former agency on Tuesday for destruction of \u201cclassified safes and personnel documents.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rubio\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/marcorubio\/status\/1899021361797816325\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And now,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/03\/11\/usaid-official-tells-remaining-staffers-shred-and-burn-all-your-documents-00224404\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to Politico<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p id=\"isPasted\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>A senior official at USAID instructed the agency\u2019s remaining staff to convene at the agency\u2019s now-former headquarters in Washington on Tuesday for an \u201call day\u201d group effort to destroy documents stored there, many of which contain sensitive information.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>The materials earmarked for destruction include contents of the agency\u2019s \u201cclassified safes and personnel documents\u201d at the Ronald Reagan Building, said an email sent by USAID\u2019s acting executive director, Erica Carr, and obtained by POLITICO.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>\u201cShred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break,\u201d the email said. Carr instructed staff to label the burn bags with the words \u201cSECRET\u201d and \u201cUSAID\/B\/IO\/\u201d (agency shorthand for \u201cbureau or independent office\u201d) in dark Sharpie.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>The email didn\u2019t 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.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>ProPublica\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrettMmurphy\/status\/1899485474088976605\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">journalist Brett Murphy also claims to be in receipt of this memo<\/a>, citing it is from, &#8220;the agency&#8217;s acting executive secretary.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>ProPublica just obtained a remarkable directive to those remaining at USAID: Empty the safes with the classified and personnel records and then &#8230; &#8220;Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break.&#8221;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>The email came from from the agency&#8217;s acting executive secretary. I asked Kel McClanahan, a national security attorney, if this was legal. He said: &#8220;No it is not,&#8221; citing the Federal Records Act. &#8220;Classified records are still federal records.&#8221;<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, Fox News Contributor and Spectator editor-at-large\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bdomenech\/status\/1899554979624452245\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Domenech alleges<\/a>\u00a0that this is nothing out of the ordinary for government.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong>This is standard. There\u2019s literally a truck that pulls up and does this for agencies (or that was the case in my tenure). Digital records are kept, physical records shredded.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/redstate.com\/nick-arama\/2025\/03\/11\/watch-karoline-leavitt-corrects-reporter-on-musk-and-social-security-n2186540\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fur flying<\/a>\u00a0over Elon Musk and DOGE, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/redstate.com\/wardclark\/2025\/03\/11\/ontario-backs-down-premiere-to-meet-with-us-commerce-secretary-surcharge-on-canadian-energy-suspended-n2186543\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tariff Wars<\/a>, and the permutations of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/redstate.com\/wardclark\/2025\/03\/11\/ukraine-agrees-to-30-day-cease-fire-if-russia-concurs-n2186535\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ukraine-Russia War<\/a>, could this be something that has the full approval and awareness of the Trump State Department or is it something that has slipped under the radar? It is after 5:00 p.m., on Tuesday, so any fallout would be felt by now. What Secretary Rubio cited as fraud and waste is only the tip of the iceberg of what was going on with USAID, so no doubt more information will be revealed, or leaked, dependent upon the context.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If they\u2019re being told to break recordkeeping laws it\u2019s because the records reveal they broke worse laws. This is like what happens when a regime that\u2019s committed war crimes is about to lose a war. https:\/\/t.co\/Uvcfvg3elq \u2014 Jarrett Stepman (@JarrettStepman) March 11, 2025 WHAT? USAID Senior Staffer Instructs Remaining Staff to Convene for an &#8216;All &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=108258\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,62,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bureaucraps","category-comment-o-the-day","category-corruption"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108258"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108269,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108258\/revisions\/108269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}