> this feels a lot like "things people want to believe" more than "things that happened"

Sure, and in the list of things that have happened, is them shuttering USAID (https://www.usaid.gov) over the weekend

And using the DOJ to threaten people with legal action, for disclosing the names of some of DOGE's members

"Only having" read access, is already a huge red flag, especially because of the way it was attained (illegally), and because of the people involved (private citizens with unclear affiliations to the federal government)

This is not just a small understanding about read vs write access