USAID employee says staffers hid pride flags, 'incriminating' books when DOGE arrived

A USAID idiosyncratic said Monday that bureau employees scrambled to fell thing "incriminating" erstwhile the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) came knocking.

DOGE is not a authorities bureau but has been tasked by the White House’s enforcement bureau with dismantling wasteful spending initiatives, and "special authorities employee" Elon Musk's astir caller people is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The billionaire has argued that the bureau is "beyond repair" and said President Donald Trump agreed that USAID should beryllium closed down. Musk moved to rapidly prehend power of USAID and unopen it down. 

ABC News reported connected however DOGE showed up astatine USAID offices successful Washington, D.C., precocious past week and demanded access, speaking to 1 worker who claimed to person seen it each play out.

USAID contractor Kristina Drye spoke to ABC News astir the scramble to hole up the bureau erstwhile DOGE came knocking. (ABC News)

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"DOGE was successful the building. We started -- we took down our Pride flags, we took down- I took retired immoderate books I felt would beryllium incriminating," Kristina Drye, a speechwriter for USAID, said. "No 1 was talking. We heard they started taking transcripts automatically of each of our Google Meets." 

She added further, "They unplugged the quality successful the small room galleys. It didn't consciousness good. And past Saturday, each of the websites went down. And past I mislaid implicit entree to my computer."

On Monday, the White House listed a assortment of questionable and DEI-related projects USAID has contributed to.

President-elect Donald Trump greets Elon Musk arsenic helium arrives to be a viewing of the motorboat of the sixth trial formation of the SpaceX Starship rocket connected November 19, 2024 successful Brownsville, Texas (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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At the apical of the database was a $1.5 cardinal program slated to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion successful Serbia's workplaces and concern communities" and a $70,000 programme for a "DEI musical" successful Ireland.

Initiatives that supported LGBTQI programs were besides flagged arsenic an inappropriate usage of payer funds, including $32,000 for a "transgender comic book" in Peru.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) office is seen connected February 03, 2025 successful Washington, DC.  (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Fox News’ Catlin McFall contributed to this report.