The Last Nail - Sacking the US Archivist and the Ethics of Erasure
It started on January 20th, the moment Donald Trump returned to power. Thousands were fired. Data was seized. Musk was sent in, his team of young digital henchmen given free rein to strip government systems, lifting what they wanted, destroying what they didn’t. One by one, websites disappeared, archives vanished and the history of the United States - the infrastructure of accountability - was thrown into the shredder.
Now, the final act. The Archivist of the United States has been removed and with that, the last line of defence against the wholesale rewriting of the nation’s history. Without professional oversight, government records can be altered, deleted or locked away forever. A nation without its memory is a nation untethered from the truth. And a government that erases its past has no intention of answering for its future.
And this is how democracies are dismantled. Not in a single dramatic coup, but in a series of systematic erasures until there is nothing left to hold power to account.
The Purpose of the Purge
The mass sackings and removals aren’t about efficiency nor are they the usual shifting of personnel between administrations. This is a purge in the truest sense. The removal of those who uphold laws, safeguard institutions and ensure the continuity of democratic governance.
It’s no accident that data systems were raided first. Records hold the receipts. They are evidence of actions taken, promises broken, crimes committed. In removing those who protect and manage them, Trump and his enforcers have cleared the way for selective history - where facts are bent to serve power, rather than power being held accountable to facts.
Musk’s involvement is particularly insidious. His unelected presence in these operations enables the rapid manipulation, suppression and redirection of public information.We are witnessing the digital equivalent of book burning.
Sacking the Archivist is a Dire Warning
The Archivist of the United States isn’t a ceremonial figure. This role is fundamental to preserving and protecting every single government document - from presidential records and agency files to classified materials eventually destined for declassification. The position is supposed to be politically neutral, ensuring continuity, integrity and access to government information.
With the Archivist removed, we are facing the deliberate erosion of historical accountability.
Presidential records can now be hidden, altered or selectively released
Investigations will be hindered and legal cases obstructed
Freedom of Information request will be slow-walked into oblivion
Without a professional, nonpartisan steward at the helm, the entire records system is vulnerable to manipulation, destruction or lockdown. Imagine a Watergate scandal where the tapes are pre-emptively destroyed. Imagine 9/11 commission reports disappearing. Imagine critical civil rights documents erased, reclassified or locked in an archive no one can access.
This is what happens when you fire the guardian of a nation’s memory.
The Information Black Hole – What’s at Stake?
The consequences of this purge are staggering. This is an attack on the past, the present and the future. This is about control over the present and the power to manufacture a future based on lies and omissions.
Government transparency- without independent oversight, records that expose corruption, abuses of power and failures of leadership can vanish.
Legal accountability- trials, investigations and lawsuits rely on government records. If evidence disappears, so does the ability to hold power to account.
Public access and democratic oversight- a government belongs to the people but when records disappear, so does public ownership of the truth.
Public Relations, Communications and the Ethical Crisis of Erasure
The sacking of the Archivist is a warning to public relations and communications professionals. Many of us are the keepers of information within our organisations. Whether in corporate, not-for-profit or public sector environments, practitioners are responsible for managing and preserving organisational history. Yet, in the wake of Trump’s return, we have already seen businesses rushing to rewrite their own pasts, scrubbing away diversity, equity and inclusion policies and 'rebranding' their history to suit the current climate. The same forces driving government-level erasure are being mirrored in the private sector - companies, institutions and even charities engaging in quiet revisionism.
If public relations professionals are to uphold the ethical standards of their profession - and let’s not forget, it is Global Ethics Month - how prepared are they to resist this pressure? What support structures do we have to help those being told to alter, delete or distort the truth? Right now, there is no organised resistance, no unified defence against the creeping normalisation of corporate historical revisionism. It's no good just talking up a big game. Associations around the world have to provide the support and training practitioners need to withstand the pressures and stand up for the truth.
And layered over this crisis is AI - an insatiable amplifier of whatever history it is fed. As Search Generative Experience, AI Overviews and other AI-powered search functions become the dominant way people find and consume information, the consequences of historical manipulation become even more severe. Once the revised version is in, AI will spread it - repeating, reinforcing and legitimising the false history. Over time, the original record fades from view, buried under layers of algorithmic fabrication.
For practitioners, this is not just a moral and ethical battle - it is a professional crisis. If the past can be rewritten so easily, what happens to the credibility of our profession? If we don't stand up, we too will be consigned to the past - not even a footnote. Or worse, an incidental mention of collusion during the Great Purge.
All this should send a chill through every public relations and communications professional, not just in the USA but worldwide. This is how it happens. Bit by bit. Not just with overt censorship but with silence. With things disappearing. With the slow degradation of systems that were once relied upon. And don't think you're off the hook web devs and IT professionals - you'll be asked to throw the switch.
In every instance, disinformation plays a role - the justification that ‘we’re just restoring balance,’ that ‘these bureaucrats were corrupt,’ that ‘the public doesn’t need to see everything.’ Or worst of all - 'I'm just doing my job'. It’s the same script, the same strategy. And it is always, always the precursor to full authoritarian control.
A Call to Action – What Must Be Done
Speak out. If you are seeing records vanish, data being removed or requests being obstructed, document it. Report it. Ensure others know what is happening.
Back up everything. If you have access to records that matter - legally, historically, institutionally - find ways to secure copies.
Say No. If you are being asked to delete, delay or obscure, you are being made part of the machine of erasure. Resist it.
Push for international safeguards. The destruction of history is a global issue and we need international measures to protect public records and archives from corrupt regimes.
Practitioners - get on to your associations. Get them to support you. Make a plan for practice that allows the ethical codes to come alive and be actioned, not just discussed.
A nation without records is a nation without accountability. A nation without memory is a nation that can be reshaped, controlled and ultimately erased.
The Archivist is gone. But we are still here. The fight for truth is not over - but it is driven by even greater urgency as evermore truth dissolves.