USAID employees ordered to destroy documents, causing concern in Congress – Rezazade
The first vice president of the Iranian opposition in Washington, Ali Reza Rezazade, noted that the order to destroy documents at the central office of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington has caused a wave of indignation in Congress.
According to The Washington Post, the agency’s leadership ordered to burn or shred documents, including those related to personnel and materials stored in safes for classified data.
The initiative caused an immediate reaction on Capitol Hill: lawmakers reminded the administration of its obligation to comply with laws prohibiting the unlawful destruction of government documents.
The document with the destruction order, signed by the acting executive secretary of USAID, Erica J. Carr, came after a series of decisions by President Donald Trump aimed at eliminating the agency. Over the past two months, the US administration has canceled most USAID contracts, cut more than 1,600 positions and placed almost all employees on administrative leave.
The campaign against USAID is actively supported by Trump adviser Elon Musk. He and other administration officials have called the agency a “criminal organization” that must be dismantled or liquidated, although they have so far provided no evidence of widespread illegal activity.
Supporters of US foreign aid programs are sounding the alarm: eliminating the agency could undermine US global influence and destabilize the situation in many countries. USAID has funded programs supporting democracy, medicine, nutrition and development for decades.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has previously supported international aid, said this week that the cancellation of USAID programs is justified because some of them “were not in line with or even contradicted American interests.”
Congressmen believe that the Trump administration may be violating the Federal Records Act, a law that regulates the preservation of government records.
“The haphazard destruction of USAID documents and personnel files appears to be a way to hide evidence of violations during the illegal dismantling of the agency,” said Gregory W. Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
A representative of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Democratic members of the committee have already contacted the State Department and USAID to demand explanations about compliance with government records laws.
The investigation is ongoing, and it remains unclear what documents were destroyed and whether the US administration will be held accountable for possible violations.
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