President Donald Trump’s ongoing effort to eliminate fraud and waste within the federal government hit a crescendo when his administration gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development.

While the decision was widely popular across Trump’s base, the media seized on recent reports that suggested staffers at the agency were instructed to destroy classified documents.

The Department of Justice was quick to dispel those claims, chalking it all up to a misinterpreted email.

Per the New York Post:

“Trained USAID staff sorted and removed classified documents in order to clear the space formerly occupied by USAID for its new tenant. The removed classified documents had nothing to do with this litigation,” wrote DOJ trial attorney Michael Clendenen in a Wednesday filing in DC federal court.

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“They were copies of documents from other agencies or derivatively classified documents, where the originally classified document is retained by another government agency and for which there is no need for USAID to retain a copy,” Clendenen went on.

“Any documents pertaining to current classified programs were retained, as were all personnel records and any document that must be retained under the Federal Records Act (FRA),” he said.

The attorney added that USAID would also inform associations for foreign services officers and contractors who are suing the agency before destroying any more documents.

After uncovering many of the controversial programs the agency has been funding with U.S. taxpayer dollars, Secretary of State Marco Rubio provided an update earlier this week:

Here’s a full transcript of the statement posted above:

After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID.

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.

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.

Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.

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The Guardian provided additional coverage of the deep cuts, including a response from Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk:

“Tough, but necessary. Good working with you. The important parts of USAID should always have been with Dept of State,” Musk responded on X following Rubio’s announcement.

The New York Times reported last week that there had been serious cut-ups between Musk and Rubio at a recent cabinet meeting over proposed cuts to the state department.

During that meeting, Trump reportedly defended Rubio for doing a “great job” and said that Musk’s team would be merely advising cabinet secretaries about future cuts. But Rubio’s apparent embrace of Musk’s objectives reveal the extent to which the billionaire Trump supporter wields power in the administration.

Here’s what White House Deputy Chief of Staff of Policy Stephen Miller had to say about USAID corruption in an interview last month:

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
 

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