Trump administration says handling of USAID documents 'did not violate' federal laws

A USAID directive to destroy classified documents had been "seriously misapprehended," Trump administration attorneys wrote in a court filing Wednesday in which they insisted that all records were appropriately handled and "did not violate" federal laws dictating the preservation of government documents.

The American Federation of Government Employees, a union that is suing the Trump administration over its cuts to the federal workforce, asked a federal judge late Tuesday to intervene and prevent the agency from "destroying documents with potential pertinence to this litigation" after a senior USAID official issued guidance to USAID staff ordering the destruction of classified records at its Washington, D.C., headquarters as USAID clears out of its office space.

The guidance urged officials to "shred as many documents first" and to "reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break," according to a copy of the message obtained by ABC News.

Justice Department attorneys wrote Wednesday that "trained USAID staff sorted and removed classified documents in order to clear the space formerly occupied by USAID for its new tenant."

"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," DOJ attorneys wrote.

Trump administration attorneys asserted that "the removed classified documents had nothing to do with" the American Federation of Government Employees' litigation.

The Trump administration attorneys explained that office space formerly belonging to USAID "is in the process of being decommissioned and prepared for the new tenant," as ABC News reported Tuesday, and the records needed to be removed from their safes to make room for its new tenants, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Erica Carr, the USAID official who sent the memo ordering the destruction of the documents, wrote in a sworn declaration that "34 employees of USAID, all holding Secret-level or higher clearance, removed outdated and no longer needed derivatively classified documents in classified safes and sensitive compartmentalized information facilities."

Carr added that most of the records earmarked for destruction remain in burn bags at the agency's headquarters "where they remain untouched." She said the documents would not be destroyed until the judge weighs in.