If no one knew the Lasch Building was packed w "Franklin Loyalists"
If no one knew that not only was it packed with Franklin Loyalists - but that many of those key folks would likely be adios-ing and following Franklin to VT (or wherever he would end up)
If no one knew that they would - obviously

- be "sabotaging" (borrowing your term) in order to benefit their new employer
If no one knew there was a lot of bad blood and COI between program leadership and many key members of the staff
If no one knew those things, then someone(s) was asleep at the wheel.
Given the (lack of) actions taken to mitigate, asleep at the wheel seems to be a reasonable presumption.
What mitigations could have been engaged? Maybe firings (as you said), but maybe not - simply bringing in someone - either the current chieftan, or someone who could be trusted, or whomever - to monitor and control the situation may have been sufficient. A combination of actions, depending on each important aspect of running the program?
In any event, any number of mitigation tactics depending on each situation and the individuals involved. Obviously, that didn't happen.
That failure to mitigate (and to mitigate against the fallout from an action that was taken with deliberation and intent and control over how "the plan" was to be implemented- it is not like some Act of God befell the program out of the blue) was very damaging.
Obviously