Trump Fired Them. Now They're Plotting to Stop Him.
Former USAID and State Department officials worried about the future of democracy in America say they're actively organizing to resist Trump, inside and outside of government.
By Jose Pagliery
Some of the democracy-building experts President Donald Trump fired this year from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department are now reapplying the skills and knowledge they built up over decades to undermine Trump's power.
For years, these officials were stationed across the globe actively supporting opposition movements in autocratic nations. Now they've got time, a network of former colleagues and a growing sense of moral indignation.
"Take it from those of us who worked in authoritarian countries: We've become one," said a currently employed federal official, who spoke to NOTUS on condition of anonymity. "They were so quick to disband AID, the group that supposedly instigates color revolutions. But they've done a very foolish thing. You just released a bunch of well-trained individuals into your population. If you kept our offices going and had us play solitaire in the office, it might have been safer to keep your regime."
"Pay us to not work or we'll organize a coup."
Prison for all of them.
The former officials tell NOTUS they're holding workshops on a tactic called "noncooperation." They're building a network of government workers willing to engage in even minor acts of rebellion in the office. And they're planting the seeds of what they hope could become a nationwide general strike.
Some in the informal network of Trump opponents are sharing an old CIA pamphlet with allies who still work in the government: It's called "Simple Sabotage."
"Widespread practice of simple sabotage will harass and demoralize enemy administrators and police," it says. "The saboteur may have to reverse his thinking... where he formerly thought of keeping his tools sharp, he should now let them grow dull; surfaces that formerly were lubricated now should be sanded; normally diligent, he should now be lazy and careless."
The community is composed of diplomats and human rights activists who were once on the U.S. government payroll encouraging Latin American dissidents to fight dictators and supporting African independence movements. They were involved to varying degrees with an ultimately successful uprising in the Middle East.
Some have found post-government work in academia and nonprofits.
No shit.
Others are still looking for jobs.
You don't say.
Several have begun moonlighting as strategic advisers to American activists, protest organizers and,b> federal employees willing to engage in civil disobedience.
One group that has, until this story, remained under the radar but is starting to play a prominent role in this space is "DemocracyAID." It has no website or formal legal entity -- yet. But it's already hosting invite-only workshops with federal employees who hear about them from friends, vetting each person before they're allowed into a trusted circle and teaching them case studies, like the Danish underground insurgency against Nazi occupation. The lesson from Denmark is that what starts as office socializing can morph into trusted networks; seemingly uncoordinated work slowdowns transition into long lunch breaks that annoy the bosses as everyone goes home to "tend to their gardens."
...
DemocracyAID is the brainchild of Danielle Reiff, another former USAID diplomat who retired from government work in late 2024. As Trump targeted her former agency this year, she started a group chat on the encrypted app Signal to "keep the community together."
...
The focus quickly shifted from salvaging the foreign assistance infrastructure to redeploying inside the United States. Reiff and Tucci joined forces, held dozens of meetings, sketched out a general structure and split it up into working groups that concentrate on separate missions like communications and training. They now have 200 volunteers and an Instagram account, @friendsofUSAID, with over 88,000 followers. A recent post shared "5 ways to keep up the momentum" of last month's "No Kings" protests.
Thanks to comrade Arthur. Sen. Eric Schmitt posted about this so the Senate knows about it, too.
DataRepublican (small r)
@DataRepublican
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Today, NOTUS published an incredible article wherein it interviewed former and current federal employees all outright admitting to plot a soft coup on President Trump, touting their expertise in color revolutions.
NOTUS is the newly launched flagship publication of Allbritton Journalism Institute (AJI), bankrolled by founder of Politico, Robert Allbriton, who has also been implicated by the Senate on foreign money laundering but never charged.
The article talks about one of the groups involved, DemocracyAID.
I cannot promise to unmask everyone, but I can reveal who's spoken publicly. Patience as I pull together this thread.
Related: In Mexico, they're rioting to protest the unwelcome presence of foreigners who don't speak the native language.
You don't say.