WEBVTT - Waiting for Doge 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.200 Every time I hear Peace Corps. 0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:05.000 I have no idea why, but I always think about 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:07.120 Cat Stevens Peace Train. 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:08.880 On the peace Train. 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:10.880 I think of the Frank Zeppa song who Needs the 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:11.400 Peace Corps? 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:14.120 Oh, kind of relevant to what we're talking about today. 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:19.000 Play the song. I'm investigative journalist Jason Leopold. I spend 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:21.279 most of my days getting documents from the government. 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:23.479 I'm attorney Matt Tapik, and I fight them in court 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:26.239 to open their files when they don't want to. From 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:30.680 Bloomberg and no smiling, this is Disclosure, a podcast about 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:34.000 buying a loose government secrets, the Freedom of Information Act, 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.920 and the unexpected places that takes us. 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:41.920 So, man, I just want to give you a heads up. 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:45.280 I'm in the office today, but we may be interrupted 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:49.640 by a fire drill, which means that I will immediately 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.639 have to exit the office. This is not like I'm 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.800 in high school where I'm like fire drill, I'm gone, 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.720 no need to return to school. Oh you just went home, then, 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:01.520 I like it. Yeah, I went home. Here, I actually 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:04.040 have to come back to the office. But in the meantime, 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.440 we've got Peace Corps to talk about. So back in April, 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:11.000 I saw a headline DOJE eyes cuts to Peace Corps 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.360 with in person visit and records access, and I was 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.000 like DOGE at the Peace Corps as far as I 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:19.840 was concerned. Two months into the Trump administration, you can 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.200 never ask too many questions about what DOGE was up to. 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.120 Basically what I started out doing just I don't know. 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.840 A week after Trump was sworn in as president, I 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:33.920 immediately began covering Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:38.920 DOGE the government is just like the DMV that got big. 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.120 When you say this's have the government do something something, 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:41.839 you should think. 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:43.160 Do you want the DMV to do it? 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.400 I've instructed him to go check out education, to check 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.240 out the Pentagon, which is the military. 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.320 So I was following DOGE at this time, and also 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:58.600 following the individuals who worked with DOGE, young men and 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.360 women in tech, many who had work from US. And 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:04.440 what they were doing was season control of these agencies 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:09.760 to essentially dismantle the agencies under the banner of efficiency. 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.760 The administration, and we believe, driven largely by Elen Musk's priorities, 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:15.679 really took a sledgehamber to the work we're doing. 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:18.960 This is the chainsaw of bureaucracy. 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:24.600 Early targets were the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of Education, 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:30.720 the Department of Defense, and especially foreign aid programs programs 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:36.160 like the US Agency for an International Development USAID. In February, 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:39.440 DOGE went in there, and again, when I say Doze, 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:43.120 you have to think of it as four or five kids. 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.919 They called them the Doge kits. They were in their twenties, 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.920 have zero experience working. 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:53.080 In government, went into USAID, took over the agency, and 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.359 they gained access to the data. They got a list 0:02:56.400 --> 0:03:00.680 of all the contracts, They fired staff, and essentially, piece 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:05.040 by piece, just dismantled this entire agency that's been around 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:06.080 for decades. 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:07.880 DOSEE cut more. 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:12.880 Than eighty percent of USAID programs, basically overnight, programs for 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:18.360 HIV and AIDS, treatment and prevention, malaria, child healthcare gone. 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:23.760 Thousands of grants and contracts were halted or completely terminated. 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:26.200 And now we're getting an idea that these moves at 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:28.400 USAID are already having a life and death. 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:29.400 Impact around the world. 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:33.640 One group Impact Counter estimates that the program cuts have 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:37.040 already resulted in more than six hundred thousand deaths around 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:41.560 the world, including more than four hundred thousand children, and 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:45.640 this dismantling took place over weekends, right when no one 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.800 was working at these agencies, and there's so much secrecy 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.680 around DOGE. So I decided I want to find out 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.040 what's going on behind the scenes. And then I saw 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:58.920 this headline in the Guardian on April fourth. Think about it, 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:02.160 it's the Piece Corps. It wasn't like DOGE is going 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:04.800 into the NSA. It was just like really going into 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:06.800 the Peace Corps, Like what's going on there? 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.760 So the very next day, on April fifth, I filed 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:12.880 this request with Peace Corps. 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:15.800 And you have to remember, let's just go back to April. 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.240 It seems like a long time ago, but the public 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:25.640 really wasn't getting an opportunity to visualize what a visit 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:28.800 from DOGE more or less entailed. I mean we kind 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.840 of heard bits and pieces of it. You know, they 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:34.080 were going into the agencies and demanding data, but really 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:35.880 what was happening behind the scenes, and I kind of 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.680 wanted to capture that through through documents. 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.440 Yeah, and DOGE transparency is an issue that manifests itself 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:44.040 in lots of different places. I mean, they were taking 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.520 the position that they're not subject to FOYA because they're 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.240 within the Executive Office the President, and you know that 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.520 would largely let them operate in secret while having let's 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.400 just call it, a significant impact on the federal government exactly. 0:04:56.640 --> 0:05:00.840 So I asked for a whole bunch of different records. 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:05.000 I wanted to get a list of all the DOGE 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.400 employees who are onboarded at Peace Corps. One reason for that, 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:11.880 by the way, is that other than a few names, 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.640 the identities of those who were connected to DOGE was 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:19.440 a secret, so journalists were kind of scrambling to figure 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.720 out who these people were. I asked for a list 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.400 of all the words that were banned or prohibited or 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:29.280 restricted from being used at Peace Corps in response to 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:33.920 Trump's DEI executive order, any requests for data that DOGE 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:37.120 had sought, all communications that reference DOGE. 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:39.320 So what kind of records did you get? 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.039 So it didn't take that long for the agency to respond, 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:47.240 but I entered into a negotiation with them, something that 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:49.400 I don't often do, Matt, as you know, because I 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:52.599 wanted to get some records quickly, so I narrowed the 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:55.279 request a bit. I told them that I would accept 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:59.240 these rolling releases right where they can send me documents 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.440 every month, and so the first batch of records I 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.920 received there were fifty four pages of emails from about 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.800 mid February to mid April. And what I got was 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.479 a really great snapshot of what it's like to be 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:13.719 inside of an agency waiting for Doge. 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.480 Oh, waiting for Goo Doge. So where do we start. 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:18.240 Let's go back to February. 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.599 The Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, DC is a glassy 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:26.279 mid rise in NOMA. Its facade or rippling curtain of 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:31.920 windows inside. I imagine staffers who keep the organization's global 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:36.839 volunteer programs running are following front page news closely as 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.640 Doge descends on agencies all around them. 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.240 Breaking news are the future of the US Agency for 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.040 International Development. 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:49.040 Less than two miles away. On February first, USAID's website 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:53.000 goes dark and staff emails shut down. Staffers were told 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.880 not to come into work today at the agency's DC headquarters. 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:02.600 Nine days later, just down the street from USAID, professors. 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.960 Gather outside the CFPB's headquarters in DC. 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:10.520 DOSE shuttered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters and demanded 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:11.680 employees stay home. 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:13.960 Do you hear everybody in the background? Let us LART 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:17.520 Doge's engine closer. They're going to put an epa'll put. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:23.440 On February twelfth, landing at the Environmental Protection Agency, and 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.680 now it's February fourteenth, Valentine's Day. 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:27.920 An email goes out. 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:32.360 To Peace Corps staffers, and for the first time, doche. 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.120 Has entered inboxes at the Peace Corps. 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:38.800 Not literally, this is just the first email about Doge 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.600 according to my records. I mean, it kind of cracked 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.640 me up a bit because the subject line says Matt, 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:50.680 Welcome Team exercise, and it says team, we will be 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:55.000 running an exercise of our Welcome Team SOP, meaning standard 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:58.440 operating procedure. You will be contacted at some point during 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:03.520 the exercise two simulate the convening of the team to 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:08.840 welcome in simulated Doge team participants hold that hold that way. 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:10.240 I'm sorry, I got to unpack this. 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.600 So they know DOGE is going to come at some point, right, 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:17.920 so they have like a designated welcome team. Okay, so 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.880 not too strange. But then they're doing drills, drills. 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.360 Like the fire drill that I have coming up here, Matt. 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:30.240 It sounds like what would happen if like the head 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.400 of state from another country was coming for a visit, 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.600 you would have all these formal protocols and you would 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.760 rehearse and all that. And that's what they're doing at 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.560 the Peace Corps, getting ready for Doge to come visit. 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:43.720 Right, that's it. I mean, it's remarkable. 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:46.400 I guess it makes sense from the agency's perspective, like 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.560 their future existence is on the line here, right, Doge 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.640 maybe coming in and wiping them out, So I could 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.800 see why they would be taking the visit very seriously. 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:58.000 So who sends the email? 0:08:58.040 --> 0:08:58.360 Do we know? 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:03.120 While all the recipients and the sender, their names are 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:08.080 redacted under a privacy exemption, I'm not terribly interested in 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:11.400 you in the names. But really, again, I wanted to 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.319 get these records and I wanted to try to get 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:13.880 them quickly. 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:18.480 Okay, so you get the welcome DOGE team email. What 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:19.280 else did you get? 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:23.400 It's more emails about the build up to Doge's arrival. 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:27.280 And so there's another email in here, subject line DOGE 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:31.360 laptop preparation. I'm like, what's that about? Ooh, that's two 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:36.000 weeks later. But this email says see below for the 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:40.280 laptop preparation statements you requested and so there's a couple 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:45.120 of scenarios here. It says scenario one that PC meaning 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:46.720 Peace Corps, receives. 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:50.199 DOGE names in advance, so if that happens, laptops will 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:54.160 be immediately available to DOGE staff upon arrival at headquarters. 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:58.440 All laptops will be pre configured with the identified software installed, 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:00.000 accounts created, and acts. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:00.679 This is granted. 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:05.080 Scenario two, DOJE arrives unannounced, four laptops have been set 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:09.240 aside and pre imaged in preparation of doje's arrival. Upon 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.600 receiving the names of the DOG staff, hosting services will 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:14.360 manually create their accounts. 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.160 Upon creation of their accounts, the service desk. 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.679 Will immediately configure each laptop, load profiles, and install software. 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.240 OCIO that's the Office of the Chief Information Officer, will 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.440 require ninety minutes from a receipt of the DOGE team 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.040 names to laptop prep completion. 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:32.400 This is amazing. 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.640 This is painting a picture for me not of an 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:38.880 agency that's going to be confrontational with DOGE, but instead 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.319 it's going to try to like be as accommodating as possible, 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.120 I guess, presumably with the hopes that that will help 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:47.760 them survive. Look how quick we look, we already have 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:49.040 your laptops ready, sir. 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.320 Right. To me, it's kind of a it seems like 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:53.480 they're being compliant. 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.280 This is fascinating to me because this is painting a 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.720 very clear picture of the impact that DOGE is having 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:04.240 on this particular agency. And I mean, there's whatever people 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.000 say publicly, and there's there's a there's there's a line 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:11.080 of FOYA like court decisions that sort of talk about 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:14.120 the idea of like FOYA is really important for people 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:17.560 to understand like what's really going on, to understand whether 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.079 there's a difference between what the government is saying publicly 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:22.520 and what the government is saying privately, and that is 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:27.079 a core value that FOYA is supposed to be furthering. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.319 And what you've got here is, I mean, it's vividly 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.360 clear how Peace Corps was viewing this, just by seeing 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:37.439 behind the scenes, how they're preparing to deal with. 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.760 It, right, and to be clear, they're not doing anything wrong, 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.040 but it's like, wow, you know, look at what they 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.760 are doing just to a prepare for their arrival. 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.880 I think my own personal view is there is something 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.400 wrong with the scenario in which agencies, instead of like 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.680 doing their work, are having to obsess over these kinds 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:58.760 of details for fear that they're just going to be 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.800 promptly like wiped out. I mean, that's we ought to 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:04.520 know that. I mean, that's a cost that is being paid. 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.360 That's an agency that isn't fulfilling its mission. And you know, 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.920 the people can dispute whether it's a mission that ought 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:11.840 to be served or not, or whether it's obsolete, and 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.000 whether they're doing a good job or not, or whether 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:15.840 we should get rid of them. But the reality is 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:20.040 that the work of Peace Corps was clearly impacted by 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:22.960 having to deal with all this, which shouldn't be surprising, 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.320 but it's very vivid to actually see that manifest itself totally. 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.760 And so just about a week later, now we're in 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:29.719 March third. 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.599 Are the cherry blossoms out? This is this is the 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:33.760 beginning of March. I think this is probably like cherry 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:34.880 blossom time, isn't it. 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:36.360 Yeah, I'm visualizing it. 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:41.679 So another email subject line DOGE Welcome Team meeting and 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:47.640 again the sender and recipient of these emails those names 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.400 are Redactive Peace Corps Welcome Team. The DOGE team has 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.520 arrived at Peace Corps headquarters. 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:56.960 This is not a drill. Please join this welcome team. 0:12:57.040 --> 0:12:59.839 Call now, Mac, this is not a drill. 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:01.000 It's not a drill. 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.240 It's not a drill. How many explanation points? No, no 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:06.760 exclamation points, just a period. 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.240 So I should say that's my emphasis, but I guess 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:10.760 you could read it this way since there is no 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:11.760 explanation one. 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:12.560 Oh my god. 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.719 Well, by the way, speaking of drill, that is an 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:18.400 actual fire drill that's happening right now. 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.360 As this is not a drill, this is this is 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:23.520 not a drill. I literally have to go. I gotta go. 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:24.319 I'm gonna be yelled out. 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:29.960 Okay, I guess we're going to a break now, and 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:30.559 he's back. 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:33.320 Matt. Right before I had a quickly exit for a 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:33.880 fire drill. 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:38.320 We were talking about these emails, and I actually think 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:41.840 the email that says this is not a drill is 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.840 actually a drill because fast forwarding four days later, it 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:50.520 says in the subject line exercise and there's like stars 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:52.160 next to exercise. 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:53.680 Doge team in the building. 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.680 So also I said that like read I read this 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:01.000 email as if it had exclamation points, right, and actually 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:02.720 let me let me read it to you without the 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:07.360 explanation points. Exercise. Exercise exercise Peace Corps Welcome Team. The 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.120 DOGE team has arrived at Peace Corps headquarters. This is 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.320 not a drill. Please joined this welcome team call. Now, 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:14.520 I don't think they were ever going to be excited 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.800 to have Doge. They're just like, hey, everyone, Dog is coming. 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:19.720 This is not a drill. The leader is here. The 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:21.880 leader is here. DOGE team is a run of the 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:25.120 Police Corps headquarters. Okay, this is not a drill. Okay. 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:30.000 So now we're going to jump to a March third email. 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:32.720 This is the same day as This is not a 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:33.520 drill email. 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:34.200 Okay. 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.720 So the subject line of this email is DOGE access 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:43.040 to PC systems. Now, this is just taking taking that 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.440 subject line and you know, kind of building off that. 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:50.160 That is really important because what has been presented as 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:59.280 highly controversial is doge's access to agency data systems databases. 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:03.800 Very is data systems. There have been stories published about 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:11.680 dosh's access to IRS data, to data DHS and other agencies. 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:15.160 So here is an email that says DOJE access to 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.560 PC systems. The only name visible here is Joaquin Ferau. 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.840 Joaquin is the Inspector General. 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:23.120 Of the Peace Corps. 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:26.800 The inspector, the Inspector General. He's the person, okay correct? 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.360 Joaquin Ferau is the Inspector General, has worked at Peace 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:37.680 Corps for nearly seventeen years, and the email says, Hi, Joaquin, 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.520 we compile the list of PC systems and started prepping 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:47.640 the procedures for providing access to them if and when requested. 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:52.200 The question came up as to whether IG systems should 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:54.920 be on that list, meaning the list of systems that 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:58.160 DOGE can gain access to. Nonetheless, I wanted to reach 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:00.800 out to you to determine if IG system should be 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.240 included or not. To date, I have not received any 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:05.920 guidance on how this is being handled at any agency. 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.960 I appreciate your thoughts on this matter. And what so 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:09.440 I mean? 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.600 Inspectors General played, you know, a very important role, a 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.040 role that is not unlike the role that DOGE was 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:18.640 purportedly going to be playing, right, And the job of 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.840 the OIG is to root out waste, fraud and corruption 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.320 in the agencies that they're involved. 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:25.080 With, right exactly. 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:32.720 And they're the watchdogs within government agencies that investigate waste, 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:39.000 fraud and abuse, retaliation, harassment, whistleblower complaints. So what in 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:42.400 inspect in inspector general data sets, like what kind of 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:43.560 stuff is going to be in there? 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:45.040 All they're investigative files. 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:49.240 So more than seventy government agencies have inspectors general and 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:54.560 so they conduct investigations, they field various complaints, and they'll 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:58.800 conduct interviews, and so the identities of whoever they conducted 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:01.680 interviews with, or if there's any whistleblowers in there, those 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.719 will be that will be part of IG files. 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:08.720 So the concern may be that you're giving DOGE access 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:13.320 to information about whistleblowers which might otherwise be protected or 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:15.040 would otherwise be protected. 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:15.720 Right exactly. 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:20.120 But it's also important to note here that the Trump 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:26.720 administration has fired many inspectors general since January, and the 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.520 administration is no fan of oversight. They are trying to 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:35.840 weaken IGS. So it's scrutiny for everyone else and essentially 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:38.200 impunity for us. Right, we're going to come in and 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.080 we're going to dissect everything that was happening, but for 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:44.600 anything that happens going forward on our watch, there's no 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.639 need for an inspector general to be nosed around causing trouble. 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:48.800 Right, we can do that. 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.520 I'm not saying that that has any direct connection here 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.679 because no response to that email, or at least if 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.400 there is one, it wasn't included in our batch of records. 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:00.600 So the next head of emails that we see March 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.760 twenty fifth to twenty six, and it's the first time 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:09.960 that we're seeing a thread from Safety and Security. The 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:15.920 timing of this correspondence is interesting because of what's happening 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:20.080 at the US Institute of Peace, three miles west of 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.720 the Peace Corps. Dosh has been trying to take charge 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:26.879 of another agency and one of the more unusual encounters 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.920 breaking news about the Department of Government efficiency and the 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:33.080 showdown with the US Institute of Peace. So the US 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.040 Institute of Peace was created in nineteen eighty four as 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:39.720 an independent nonprofit funded by Congress. It's sort of a 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:43.840 nonpartisan agency for studying conflicts and how to resolve them. 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:48.360 In the late February, an executive order branded the US 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:52.800 Institute of Peace unnecessary and the administration wanted to dismantle it. 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:58.240 And in mid March, around the time these Peace. 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:02.560 Corpt emails are circulating, a bunch of board members at 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:05.600 the US Institute of Peace are fired and there was 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:11.960 a scuffle DOGE members accompanied by FBI agents to send 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:14.639 on the US Peace building, but they can't get in. 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:19.200 Two days later, FBI agents visit a security employee at 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.320 home trying to get access to the US Institute of Piece. 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.720 They still can't get in, and finally, on their third attempt. 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.399 Doge enters the building by. 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.000 Apparently threatening the federal contracts for. 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:36.119 The outside private security firm that the Institute employees. According 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:39.280 to Politico, and US Institute of Peace employees then call 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:40.880 DC police. 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:43.160 And report Doge members for unlawful entry. 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:43.760 Wow. 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:45.280 Yeah, I mean this was a big deal. 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:48.240 The cops show up and to ultimately help Doge take 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.000 over the building. So this is sort of a cautionary 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:54.560 tail for what happens to these agencies when they resist 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:55.640 Doge's efforts. 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:01.720 So Institute for Peace is involved in a exactly that's 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:03.679 what it was. I love it, and this story more 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:06.600 or less suggested it was a standoff. Well, because they 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:09.480 they're like, no, you're not coming in, and they head right, 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:13.480 they became the Institute of Confrontation right. 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:17.119 And I should note I tried to reach the Institute 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:21.600 for comment and didn't get any response because Doge effectively 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:26.520 shut it down. So Matt these email exchanges are taking 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:33.159 place on the heels of a very public confrontation between 0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:37.960 DOGE and the US Institute of Peace. So let's go 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:43.399 back now to the email March twenty fifth from Peace 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:48.080 Corps Safety and Security. And again, this email has a 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:52.600 number of redacted names, but there are a couple that 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:58.520 are unredacted, and those names are Karen Roberts and Nancy 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:02.359 or Bolsheimer, So Matt. Both Nancy and Karen are Trump 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:07.399 appointees from the first Trump administration and have decades of 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.959 experience working in Republican administrations and now they're back at 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.119 the Peace Corps for Trump two point zero. 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:15.359 So there it sounds like like what some would call 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:16.080 deep state. 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:19.040 People borrowed, they burrowed in, they burrowed all right. 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:22.760 Continue and the email says Nancy and Karen redacted reached 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:25.359 out to let me know that you two should be 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.480 added to the list of people that get notified in 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:32.520 the event a DOSEE team comes to visit Peace Corps headquarters. 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.600 I have the below contact information for you both. If 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.720 a team does visit us, we will gather in the 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:43.040 Harris Wafford Conference room on the second floor. I think 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:46.160 this email is really interesting because of what it says 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.800 here if a team does visit us, like, are they 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:53.119 unsure if Doge is going to visit Peace Corps and 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:55.680 has this planning that has taken place over the past 0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:59.960