Updated: Hinderaker seems unaware that humanitarian aid operations (in certain geographies) might lead to useful local contacts — for tradecraft opportunities – in shaping policy on the ground. Not spying per se — but rather “influencing”: toward democracy as opposed to socialism or oligarchy. As such, there might be sensitivity to letting such info out widely. John implies that the shredding was to hide graft. If that were so, Trump would be crowing. He is not — in fact he’s running the wood chipper, John. That seems… swampy — in a word. End update.
I am pretty sure all these appointees would have received broad “litigation hold” notices, due to the lawless way USAID has been dealt with since late January 2025.
And it is particularly odd that the White House spokesperson was trying to down-play it, as having any import — saying it was “only” three dozen people, doing the buring and shredding. None of that is reassuring — given that Trump/Musk people are running the effort. We will wait to see where it all lands, since we all know other / back-up copies of all this stuff are likely in other agencies’ safes, in any event. Here’s the weird story, out of Politico:
…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….
Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the White House, downplayed [any] concerns in a social media post late Tuesday. “This was sent to roughly three dozen employees,” Kelly wrote. “The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems….”
She might not be the most credible source here — jes’ sayin’. So, just when you thought it couldn’t get any… stranger. Wow. G’night.
नमस्ते
Powerline Lies... 