US

Judge Hands Trump-Allied Legal Group Win In Lawsuit Against CDC

CDC Museum

Wikimedia/Public/Jim Gathany

Eireann Van Natta General Assignment Reporter
Font Size:

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled Friday the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) policy of deleting former employees’ emails is “likely unlawful,” handing the Trump-aligned America First Legal (AFL) a major victory.

The CDC deleted the emails of former employees’ ninety days after their employment ended, according to the ruling. The CDC falls under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which uses the National Archives and Records Association’s (NARA) Capstone policy for emails.

This policy enables the CDC to delete emails after ninety days instead of the three-year minimum required for lower-level employees by the General Records Schedule (GRS) 6.1.

A spokesperson for the CDC had no immediate comment.

NARA referred the Caller to the DOJ and stated: “The mission of the National Archives, though, is to preserve, protect, and share our nation’s records, and that will always be our priority and focus.” The DOJ has not yet responded at the time of publication.

The CDC claimed email records deleted ninety days after the employees’ departure were “adequately persevered elsewhere.”

The agency “sought and obtained” NARA’s permission to adopt GRS 6.1 for email management in 2016, the court stated. There is no record demonstrating NARA approved the CDC’s use of another recordkeeping system, according to Contreras.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s politicization of records management must end, and we look forward to holding them accountable for their illegal actions in all such circumstances,” AFL’s Executive Director Gene Hamilton said in a press release.

AFL requested records pertaining to the agency’s support for gender ideology in the classroom in early 2023. (RELATED: Exclusive: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna Introduces Legislation To Terminate Overreach at CDC)

The legal group obtained the CDC’s document “LGBTQ Inclusivity in Schools: A Self-Assessment Tool.” The document contains a glossary, providing definitions for terms such as “cisnormativity” and “heteronormativity.”

AFL sued the HHS and NARA this April. Today, Contreras ordered the CDC to stop deleting former non-Capstone employees’ emails until the time allotted under GRS 6.1 has passed or “pending further order of the Court.”

“This is another historic courtroom victory for America First Legal against widespread government corruption,” AFL President Stephen Miller and former advisor to President Trump stated. He concluded his organization will continue to pursue justice and hold institutions accountable.