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Recording reveals new details on controversial DOGE employee

Less than three years before Elon Musk tapped him to take part in a sweeping overhaul of the US government, Edward Coristine, then 17, was the subject of a heated dispute between two executives at the Arizona-based cybersecurity firm where he was an intern.

At issue was whether to allow Coristine to keep his job even though he was suspected of leaking proprietary information to a competitor.

“You’re willing to risk our entire network to a 17-year-old?” one frustrated executive asked the company’s CEO in 2022. “Are you for real right now?”

In a recording of the call, reviewed by CNN, Marshal Webb, the CEO of Path Network, a company that offers services to protect businesses from cyberattacks, defended his decision.

He said he wanted to allow Coristine to continue with his internship, in part, because he didn’t want to make him “an enemy” or have him “running amok” with information he was suspected of taking. Webb allowed him to stay with the proviso that the young employee “not be exposed to anything that’s really sensitive.”

That was then.

Today, the 19-year-old, once known by the online moniker “Big Balls,” is part of Musk’s controversial effort to remake the federal government. He is a “senior advisor” with access to various departments, including Homeland Security, FEMA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The details of Coristine’s role with the government are not clear. But his young age and relative lack of experience have raised concerns about his overall suitability for such potentially sensitive work.

Some government experts have questioned whether Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency – under which Coristine works – has appropriately followed all rules meant to protect US government data.

“The federal government has more data on American citizens than almost any other institution and so if we’re going to just remove the guardrails that protect that data, there’s no saying which actors may gain access to that,” said Nick Bednar, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who specializes in the executive branch. “That data is very valuable to know where people have invested their money, to know their social security numbers, their bank account information.”

DHS and CISA referred CNN’s request for comment to DOGE, which did not respond.

Coristine did not respond to CNN’s request for comment but posted on Discord at the time of his termination that he had done “nothing contractually wrong” while working at the cybersecurity company, according to Bloomberg.

Path Network, which previously confirmed Coristine had been terminated from his internship for leaking company information, declined comment on Friday.

Path Network’s Director of Operations, Kyan Gomes, who said he wasn’t speaking on behalf of the company, said he was initially opposed to keeping Coristine on after discovering he allegedly leaked information, but later agreed with the company’s decision.

“After apologies and somewhat of a begging nature, Edward was brought back on a sympathetic level as well as a protective level for us as a company,” Gomes said in a statement to CNN. “If he was kept on our side temporarily, we’d be able to figure out what exactly he leaked without giving him access to more sensitive data… Once we came to the conclusion that we received all the information we needed, Path proceeded with the termination.”

DOGE’s access to nation’s most sensitive data

Last month Musk’s DOGE crew quickly gained access to some of the country’s most sensitive data as part of its efforts to slash federal spending. In recent weeks, Musk’s associates have appeared at many government agencies including Veterans Affairs and the Department of Energy and have sought access to social security information, IRS systems and treasury data.

DOGE, which operates without Congressional oversight, has not been transparent about who it employs, though some names and identities of employees have been made public through reporting by Wired and other outlets. Some federal workers said DOGE associates at times refused to identify themselves in meetings with federal employees.

Democratic lawmakers pressed the White House for information on DOGE staffers earlier this month: “No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans’ personal information.”

Gomes, Coristine’s former colleague at Path Network, said he did not believe Coristine should have access to sensitive government information. “While I do not know exactly what he has access to, DOGE as a whole has been accessing extremely sensitive information,” he said.

“The penalty for consorting with the enemy”

Coristine’s conduct at Path Network was detailed in screenshots of Discord chatrooms and secretly recorded company meetings uploaded to a public website by disgruntled employees, some of whom claimed the company owed them money.

The recordings and screenshots revealed a somewhat raucous and undisciplined culture at Path Network.

In one recorded meeting just before Coristine started his internship, for example, a drunk employee repeatedly threatened to fight his colleagues. Encouraged by coworkers, the staffer – chugging White Claws, bragging about shaving every day and showing off his Prada cologne – punched holes in the wall and later turns on his webcam to show hundred-dollar bills scattered on the floor.

He then offered an impromptu self-evaluation:

“All I can say is I’m a f*king God,” the employee is heard saying on the call. “I’m a f*king alpha.”

Those records also show employees discussing Coristine’s conduct and him allegedly leaking information to a competitor.

“Edward has been terminated for leaking internal information to the competitors. This is unacceptable and there is zero tolerance for this,” an executive wrote in a team chat.

“The penalty for consorting with the enemy,” Path’s CEO said.

Less than two months later, Coristine himself, posting under the username Rivage, boasted in an online chatroom that he maintained access to Path Network’s systems after he was terminated.

“I had access to all the game hosting machines for months after termination 🤣🤣🤣” Coristine posted in a Discord channel.

When the cybersecurity firm hired Coristine’s replacement in the summer of 2022, the CEO instructed his staff to welcome him with the following message:

“I hope you won’t be liquidated like your predecessor.”

https://www.aol.com/recording-reveals-details-controversial-doge-025011808.html

https://nypost.com/2025/02/22/us-news/trump-praises-musk-amid-cuts-urges-him-to-get-more-aggressive/

“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote later Saturday on X.

“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” he added.

1. This isn’t remotely legal.

2. **** him to hell.

Go ahead Trumpsters. Lap it up and let your brainwash tell you how this is a great thing.

Truth.



Good luck getting any of them to hear you, much less change their minds, based on anything you've been telling them.
The Truth won't hit them until it they feel it personally. And by the time they actually see what their choice hath wrought- it might be too late for them (...and all of us who sounded the alarm that they refused to hear).

I've largely ceased reasoning/debating with them. Life is too short to waste time, effort and CO² on lost causes.

There will soon come a time when many of these pro-trump posters will personally feel the effects of what he's doing. Some may have family members who lose their jobs. Some may lose their Medicare/Medicaid protections. All of us will find that our grocery bills haven't been reduced, our country is no safer, and none of the problems we've wanted solved have been addressed. Still others will begin to cry that "I voted for him, but I didn't vote for this."

At that time, I won't gloat or tell them how many times they were warned about a man who has always told us who he was.
Nope.

Instead, I'll simply say: "I take no blame for your present hardship. I voted for someone/something else."


It's coming.


And like I told Ballpeen, some weeks ago: "All those Jan6 'patriots' who were angry enough to storm the Capitol in 2010 are still ready to do it all over again... and they'll do it no matter who is in the Oval Office."

I have no doubt that some of 47's most ardent supporters will become part of the throng who marches on DC... and find themselves on the receiving end of a hail of rubber bullets.


He is creating this American dystopia right in front of us.
If we don't step up/speak up, he'll succeed... to the detriment of all but him (and those who slurp his fetid backhole).


What a world, what a world-


.02

21 DOGE staffers, whose employment predated Musk agency, resign

Twenty-one staffers of the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have resigned, saying in a letter sent Tuesday to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles that they "will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE's actions."

The staffers said they were part of the U.S. Digital Service, the unit of the White House created in 2014 by former President Barack Obama. The office was renamed the United States DOGE Service by President Trump via an executive order on Inauguration Day.

These officials wrote that they "will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans' sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services."

The letter, which was obtained by CBS News, and resignations were first reported by The Associated Press.

In response to news of the letter, DOGE official Katie Miller posted on X, "These were full remote workers who hung Trans flags from their workplaces."

If these are fully remote workers how would she know what the hell they have hanging in their work place? And what would that have to do with how they do their jobs? This is the trash trump has working for him.

In their letter, the staffers noted that the day after Inauguration Day, they did 15-minute interviews with individuals wearing White House visitor badges.

"Several of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability," the letter said. "This process created significant security risks and was designed to intimidate government employees."

They then said on Feb. 16, DOGE representatives started to try and integrate them into their efforts. They said their actions ("firing technical experts, mishandling sensitive data, and breaking critical systems") contradict the mission laid out in the executive order creating DOGE.

That executive order said DOGE was created to modernize "federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity."

All the names signed onto the letter are anonymous.

The news comes as DOGE's cuts in the federal workforce have caused chaos across multiple departments. DOGE employees have been going through data systems at agencies, identifying thousands of jobs as redundant or unaligned with the administration's views, prompting mass terminations by federal agency heads.

Over the weekend, Musk posted on his social media site X that he had sent an email to all government employees asking them to list five things they had done in the past week or be fired. But several department heads, including Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth and FBI director Kash Patel — both loyalists to Mr. Trump — have instructed their employees not to respond.

Musk's role at the helm of the agency has been questioned. While Mr. Trump's executive order said DOGE would have an administrator, his administration said in a court challenge that Musk is not the administrator of the DOGE Service nor an employee of the organization. In a separate case on Monday, a federal judge in Washington questioned the constitutionality of DOGE and Musk's role.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday did not directly answer if Musk is the DOGE administrator, saying she would not say from the podium who the administrator is. A White House official later said the DOGE administrator is Amy Gleason.

"The president tasked Elon Musk to oversee the DOGE effort," Leavitt said "There are career officials and there are political appointees who are helping run DOGE on a day-to-day basis."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-staffers-resign-us-digital-service/

https://apnews.com/article/doge-vet...ntracts-9a726b744e402da01d711023b0fc49a1

Just more squealing pigs, right 'peen?

“No more paying consultants to do things like make Power Point slides and write meeting minutes!”

It's amazing to me the level of hyperbole, misinformation and outright lies that are being spread. They are relying on the fact that so many people are uninformed and unattached from what is happening, that they will be able to slide it through, and then shift everyone's attention to the next thing.

People on base are already talking about panic going on at VA centers.

I know so many dudes i served with that are gonna be effected by this. it's really horrible, and a lot of them are upset on social media.

most of them also voted for Trump and the GOP, so I'm being pulled both ways with my empathy because their horrible decisions led to horrible consequences, but these are my bros.

I pointed out that 30% of federal employees are veterans. While only 5% of the total work force in the nation are veterans. I too feel badly they were suckered into trump's nonsense. I guess if people keep telling you how much they care about you it gives you cause to tend to believe them. The GOP drapes themselves in the flag as a disguise and display all the symbolism possible to try and reinforce it. As patriots themselves it's easy for me to see how they would believe it. I can't hold that against them.

All we can do at this point is hope they can come out the other side of this okay and that they have learned their lesson. Although sadly they had to learn it the hard way.

I tend to be able to muster together enough empathy for the slice of the population you're describing (Trump voters affected by the slash and burn). I have no sympathy, though.

Elon Musk says upgrade of FAA’s air traffic control system is failing and SpaceX needs to take over Verizon’s contract

New York CNN —

Elon Musk said Thursday that Verizon’s efforts to provide a critically needed upgrade to the FAA’s air traffic control system is failing. And he said that it is important that Starlink, a unit of his SpaceX satellite and rocket company, take over.

“The Verizon communication system to air traffic control is breaking down very rapidly,” he said in a post on his social media platform X. “The FAA assessment is single digit months to catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk.”

“The situation is extremely dire,” Musk added.

It was not immediately clear what FAA risk assessment Musk was referring to in his post.

Verizon has a massive $2.4 billion contract to provide a long-sought upgrade to the FAA’s communications system, known as the FAA Enterprise Network Services, or FENS, program. Asked about Musk’s statement, the FAA issued a statement saying “Regarding the FENS program, no decisions have been made.”

Earlier this week the FAA confirmed it is testing three Starlink terminals. Musk said those terminals were sent to the FAA at no cost to the agency or taxpayers at this time. He added that the shipment of terminals was done “on an emergency basis to restore air traffic control connectivity.”
Verizon said another company - not Verizon - is running the FAA systems currently in place.

“Our Company is working on building the next generation system for the FAA which will support the agency’s mission for safe and secure air travel,” said Verizon spokesman Rich Young. “We are at the beginning of a multi-year contract to replace antiquated, legacy systems. Our teams have been working with the FAA’s technology teams and our solution stands ready to be deployed. We continue to partner with the FAA on achieving its modernization objectives.”

The company Verizon mentioned as running the current FAA equipment, and the FAA, did not have an immediate reply to requests for reaction to the Verizon statement.

There is no dispute that the FAA’s various computer and communications systems are badly in need of an upgrade. A December report by the Government Accountability Office was entitled “urgent FAA actions are needed to modernize aging systems.”

The Verizon contract for $2.4 billion was awarded by the FAA two years ago. The agency said it is designed to “usher in a new era in national air system and administrative telecommunications.” The Washington Post, citing two unidentified sources, reported Thursday that the agency was on the verge of canceling the contract and giving it to SpaceX.

Musk appeared to confirm the Post report with his statement on X, which was retweeting an earlier post by someone else that said, “The FAA is on the verge of canceling Verizon’s bloated $2.4 billion contract and handing it to Starlink — a move that would bring faster, safer, and more reliable air traffic control services.”

Such a move could face legal challenges, as canceling federal contracts is a complex process that can take a year or more, the paper reported. It would be a large financial award for SpaceX at a time when Musk is leading Trump administration efforts to make massive cuts in federal spending, including staffing and spending at the FAA.

The contract could also raise new questions about conflicts of interest for Musk’s role recommending cuts in agencies with which his businesses have contracts or which have regulatory oversight of his businesses. The FAA is among the agencies that oversees the operations of SpaceX.

Air traffic safety has gotten a new focus from the public in recent weeks due to a series of crashes involving commercial jet, including the fatal crash of a military helicopter and a regional jet on final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, a fatal crash that killed all 10 people aboard a small jet in Alaska, a Delta regional airline flight that flipped over and burst into flames upon landing in Toronto and a near collision on the runway of Midway Airport between a Southwest Airlines jet that had to abort a landing when a private jet improperly crossed in front of it.

The causes of all those incidents are under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and there is no indication that problems with the Verizon systems played any role in any of the incidents. But soon after the fatal crash in Washington, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that he had had discussions with Musk and that he was going to help the FAA “remake our airspace” and “do it quickly.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/27/business/elon-musk-faa-air-traffic-control-failing-spacex/index.html

270 million dollars in campaign contributions to trump now has officially given Musk the power to hand himself billions of dollars in government contracts. I have no idea how an unelected official can wield this much power. It seems Musk's investment is paying off well for him. Just like we told them it would.

This must be one of those things they voted for.....

Dude isn't even trying to hide it anymore.

Edit ~ I would also like to add that canceling contracts is, indeed, very complicated. I would also bet that the contract was awarded competitively, which in and of itself has a TON involved with it. If they terminate the contract and go with his company, the lawsuits will be filed within seconds...and on their face, they would have merit.

Why should he try to hide it? As we can see by the silence on this very board, those who voted for trump don't seem to give a damn while remaining silent. They're the only people whose opinions he and trump care about.

"If I Were to Remain Silent, I'd Be Guilty of Complicity."- Albert Einstein

The more I read up on it, the worse it looks. A lot of these competitions are run without the bidders knowing what the other companies propose or how they structure their performance plans.

Musk has access to all that now giving him and his companies an unfair competitive advantage over everyone else.

But, ya know, gotta own the libs.

And as we can see, the silence continues.