On Friday, the Board of Directors of the U.S. Institute of Peace informed the group’s president, George Moose, that he was relieved of his duties. The same day, Moose’s replacement, Kenneth Jackson, arrived at the office for the congressionally funded nonprofit to assume his new role.
There was one problem: Moose refused to go.
A source intimately involved in the situation told The Daily Wire that Moose put the building on lockdown when Jackson and his team were en route. When they arrived, they were astonished to find that the doors were locked and they were unable to gain entry.
“They treated us, quite frankly, like criminals,” a person who was with the group shared with The Daily Wire.
Jackson encountered similar behavior on Monday. He was ultimately able to enter USIP with the help of the Metropolitan Police Department, and ordered all unauthorized personnel to leave — including Moose, who confirmed to The Daily Wire that he was escorted out by police.
When Jackson and the rest of his group were finally able to get into the building, they found things in turmoil. The shades were drawn, with white noise playing when they arrived. USIP employees were using walkie talkies to communicate within the building, according to the person who was with Jackson. As of Tuesday, none of the phone systems in the building were working, nor were the elevators, and the internet was down, The Daily Wire has learned.
“I’ve never seen something so broken,” the source familiar with the situation told The Daily Wire. Moose did not respond to inquiries into whether he and his colleagues tampered with these systems.
Colin O’Brien, the chief security officer at USIP under Moose, told The Daily Wire on Tuesday evening that the systems likely were not working because the building had been placed on lockdown at Moose’s orders, meaning that all the systems would shut down. O’Brien and other employees were told to exit the building, and he said he hadn’t been in contact with anyone on Tuesday, though he believes he is still employed by USIP.
O’Brien said that Moose ordered that members of DOGE were not to be admitted into the building, and that members of USIP were under the impression that there was an ongoing dispute with DOGE about who the leadership of the USIP was — “something that, in my understanding, was going to be litigated,” he said. He disputed the notion that DOGE had the authority to enter the building.
United States Institute of Peace headquarters (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
This story, based on accounts from individuals who were on the scene as Jackson attempted to gain access to the organization he’d been put in charge of, shows how federally-funded bureaucrats worked to sabotage operations to stop the Trump administration from taking control.
Moose, who allegedly “barricaded” himself in his office until police arrived, has told the media that members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) broke into the office without warning. But a review of events and internal emails show not only that USIP leadership blocked Moose’s replacement from entering the building, but that it was preparing to resist changes for weeks ahead of their arrival.
USIP describes itself as an independent nonprofit corporation that works with the Defense Department to help broker peace deals internationally — to “promote international peace and the resolution of conflicts.”
But the behavior of USIP staff, which has allegedly included locking doors, changing locks, distributing photos of incoming USIP leadership, prepping staff for how to interact with any “external entities requesting access to USIP,” and even blocking a security guard from leaving the building, raises questions about what exactly the publicly-funded organization was up to.
When The Daily Wire asked O’Brien why USIP was allegedly distributing photos of DOGE team members to help USIP members identify what the team members looked like, O’Brien said he had to take a call from his wife and hung up.
Gonzalo Gallegos, the director of communications for USIP, then gave The Daily Wire a call. He also ended the conversation when asked about the photographs.
“Something shady was going on at that organization,” Elon Musk said in a statement posted on X.
A White House official told The Daily Wire that “rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage.”
“The Trump administration will enforce the President’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people,” said Anna Kelly, the White House deputy press secretary.
“President Trump signed an executive order to reduce USIP to its statutory minimum,” Kelly said. “After noncompliance, 11 board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president.”
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the police shared that they were contacted by the United States Attorney’s Office on Monday at 4:00 p.m. and informed that at least one person was refusing to leave USIP. Police then got in touch with Jackson, who showed police proof that he was, in fact, the head of USIP, “with all powers delegated by the USIP Board of Directors to that role.” He also told the police that there were “unauthorized individuals inside of the building that were refusing to leave and refusing to provide him access to the facility.”
Police got in contact with the individuals in the building, who allowed the police to enter, and Jackson requested that “all the unauthorized individuals inside of the building leave.” No arrests were made, the police said.
Moose told The Daily Wire in a text message that he remained in his office until the police arrived and “was escorted out of the building.” He also pushed back on the claim that he was barricaded in his executive suite.
But he told the Associated Press that it was “an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit, arguing that the building is not federally owned and that its operations are not under DOGE’s control.”
A February 11 email reviewed by The Daily Wire shows USIP leadership instructing employees on how to handle the arrival of “external entities requesting access to USIP,” stating: “The purpose of this procedure is to outline response actions that will take place in the event that an external organization presents to USIP and requests to meet regarding government efficiencies.”
In the event that an organization showed up at the main entrance to USIP, its security team was instructed to “appropriately identify the individuals,” screen them, “immediately” contact the on-duty lieutenant, contact security leadership, contact the CEO and the COO, contact the USIP legal team, and meet with the visitors in a designated room.
The guidance also includes a specific message that leadership should share with visitors, specifically suggesting that the USIP can do whatever it wishes with the building.
“Before we go through any questions you have, I want to highlight a few points about our organization,” leadership was told to say. “First, Congress established the United States Institute of Peace as an independent nonprofit corporation. The Institute is a federal entity, but we are not an executive agency, or an agency as defined by section 551 of title 5. As part of that independence, the Institute owns this building and maintains discretion over access to both the facility and our systems.With that in mind, I’m happy to take your questions once counsel arrives.”
The email shows that some of the USIP employees have emails ending in “usip.gov” addresses, while others have addresses that ended in “usip.org.” It was sent just over a week before Trump, on February 19, reduced USIP to its statutory minimum through executive order. The employees copied on this email did not show up for work on Tuesday, The Daily Wire has learned.
On Monday, Jackson arrived at USIP around 2:15 p.m. and again was not able to get into the building. Moose was “barricaded” in his office, and it took roughly three hours — and the arrival of police — for him to let himself out of the executive floor suite, The Daily Wire’s source shared.
Though it had been almost four days since he was removed as president of USIP, Moose put out a statement as though he retained that title, claiming at 6 p.m. on Monday evening: “DOGE has broken into our building.”
“George is not the Acting President,” the White House’s Kelly said in a post on X on Monday evening.”He was removed from his position on March 14, and Kenneth Jackson was appointed Acting President.”
“George is actually a career bureaucrat who wants to be unaccountable to the American people,” Kelly added. “The Trump administration won’t let him.”
Moose also claimed that “what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit,” in a statement to the Associated Press, arguing that the building is not federally owned and that its operations are not under DOGE’s control, since its employees don’t work for the executive branch.
DOGE said in a late Monday night statement that, “Mr. Moose denied lawful access to Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board),” confirming that police arrived on site and escorted Jackson into the building.
“The only unlawful individual was Mr. Moose, who refused to comply, and even tried to fire USIP’s private security team when said security team went to give access to Mr. Jackson,” the statement said.
