U.S.A.I.D. Official Orders Employees to Shred or Burn Classified and Personnel Records

A senior official at the main U.S. aid agency, which is being dismantled by the Trump administration, told employees to clear safes holding classified documents and personnel files by shredding the papers or putting them into bags for burning, according to an email sent to the staff.

The email sent by Erica Y. Carr, the acting executive secretary, told employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development to empty out the classified safe and personnel document files on Tuesday. “Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break,” Ms. Carr wrote, according to a copy of the email obtained by The New York Times.

The agency has fired thousands of employees, put some on paid leave and asked a few to work from home, so the headquarters have been mostly empty for weeks.

It is unclear if Ms. Carr or any other official at U.S.A.I.D. got permission from the National Archives and Records Administration to destroy the documents. The Federal Records Act of 1950 requires U.S. government officials to ask the records administration for approval before destroying documents.

The documents being destroyed could have relevance to multiple court cases that have been filed against the Trump administration and the aid agency over the mass firing and sudden relocation of employees, the rapid dismantlement of the agency and a freeze on almost all foreign aid money.

The State Department and a spokesperson for U.S.A.I.D. did not respond to requests for comment.

The American Foreign Service Association, a union representing career diplomats that is a plaintiff in a lawsuit, said in a statement on Tuesday that it was “alarmed by reports that U.S.A.I.D. has directed the destruction of classified and sensitive documents that may be relevant to ongoing litigation regarding the termination of U.S.A.I.D. employees and the cessation of U.S.A.I.D. grants.”