Judge Says CDC Illegally Deleted Emails of Departed Staff

A U.S. district judge has ruled in favor of a legal group associated with former President Donald Trump, which accused the Biden-Harris administration of violating federal record retention laws. Judge Rudolph Contreras issued a 36-page opinion stating that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) likely acted unlawfully by disposing of emails from former employees just 90 days after their departure. The ruling mandates that the CDC must halt this practice and retain emails from lower-level employees for a minimum of three years, in accordance with the National Archives' Capstone protocol. The lawsuit, initiated by America First Legal in April, stemmed from a Freedom of Information Act request concerning a CDC publication on LGBT inclusivity in schools. The CDC disclosed that emails from two of the three employees involved in the project had been deleted after their departure. The agency had previously stated that it routinely deletes most employees' emails 30 days post-employment, a practice that Contreras found inconsistent with the Capstone guidelines, which require longer retention for lower-level employees. Contreras emphasized that the CDC had committed to implementing the General Records Schedule (GRS) 6.1 for email management, which was approved by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). He noted that the CDC did not seek approval for an alternative email retention schedule, thus violating established protocols. The judge criticized NARA for failing to report the CDC's unlawful practices to the Department of Justice. America First Legal's Executive Director Gene Hamilton expressed satisfaction with the ruling, asserting that the Biden-Harris administration's actions constituted a blatant violation of the law and called for an end to the politicization of records management.