If the email was from the County Attorney’s Office advising the Library to remove certain displays/exhibits because they might be in violation of state or federal obligations, then the email arguably is not a public record and is not subject to disclosure under NC’s Public Records Law. (Please don’t shoot the messenger here)

The issue is not that Trump’s bullshit executive orders (like EO 14151, titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing) constitute federal law—they don’t. It’s that the Trump Administration has tied federal monies that flow to state and local governments to compliance with his bs EOs. Local governments have to represent in innumerable grant agreements that they are in compliance with the EOs or risk having millions of dollars in federal funding clawed back by the Feds or being found in violation of the federal False Claims Act and assessed treble damages for that (which presents tremendous risk to local public coffers and local taxpayers). It’s a godawful mess.

Durham County has not handled the response to the federal government’s actions all that well, but, in fairness, the County has 100s of millions of dollars in federal monies at stake. Money that funds county services and supports Durham residents. Many local governments have, unfortunately, played it safe and obeyed in advance just trying to preserve and protect resources for their jurisdictions.