In Breaking USAID, the Trump Administration May Have Broken the Law
www.propublica.org
ProPublica’s reporting provides new details about what legal risk officials were prepared to take and what laws they may have violated on their way to creating a “constitutional crisis.”

Summary

The Trump administration abruptly halted USAID’s foreign aid funding and restructured the agency, provoking alarm among experienced staff and legal experts.

Political appointees, assisted by Elon Musk’s engineers, seized control of IT systems, imposed swift stop-work orders, and placed thousands of workers on leave.

Experts warned these actions likely violated multiple federal laws, including the Privacy Act and the Impoundment Control Act, raising serious constitutional concerns.

Federal worker groups have filed lawsuits and a judge’s injunction halted layoffs, while congressional inquiries and legal challenges look to restore due process.

  • Omgpwnies@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    1 day ago

    If he hasn’t been convicted, then he hasn’t factually broken the law. If he hasn’t factually broken the law, then saying he has is considered defamation and opens ProPublica up to lawsuits, and unfortunately, they would lose, since that would be textbook defamation.

    That’s why everything like this gets wrapped in things like “allegedly” or “may have” because it allows them to report the facts of what happened and the laws in question without making that final link, which is something only the courts can do.