WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit against Secretary Xavier Becerra, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan, and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for unlawfully destroying federal records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The lawsuit stems from an investigation conducted by AFL which revealed that the CDC had been illegally deleting former employees' emails in violation of the Federal Records Act. AFL had previously requested an investigation into the CDC's practice of deleting emails related to their support for certain ideologies. Despite federal law mandating the preservation of agency records, the CDC admitted to routinely deleting emails of departing employees.
In response to these findings, NARA conducted an investigation but closed the matter by stating that individual CDC employees were entrusted to decide which emails could be deleted based on content value. This approach was deemed inconsistent with the law by AFL, which highlighted the implications of allowing individual bureaucrats to determine the fate of official records.
America First Legal Vice President Dan Epstein expressed concerns over the unequal application of the law, stating, "The CDC destroyed records it determined were unimportant...may not evade the law." He criticized the Biden Administration for viewing the law differently and cited examples where former FBI agents faced minimal consequences for mishandling records compared to the treatment of former President Trump.
Epstein emphasized the importance of applying the law fairly to all individuals, regardless of their position, and condemned the alleged two-tiered system of justice within the government. AFL's lawsuit aims to challenge the Biden Administration's approach to record-keeping and accountability, advocating for a consistent application of the law.
The battle over the preservation of federal records and the responsibilities of government agencies regarding data retention and transparency continues as AFL remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding the rule of law.