Amid Hunt for Crime in DC, Whistleblower Implicates Ed “Big Balls” Coristine and John Roberts
As I’ve noted repeatedly, there should be far more attention to the fact that right wing Governors are forcing members of their National Guard to leave their homes, their families, and their jobs to avenge Ed “Big Balls” Coristine, the privileged white kid with ties to criminal hackers who allegedly got assaulted when out past 3AM one night. Most are sending their own constituents away from their homes to fight crime, allegedly, in a safer place than their own home.
And now, they’re doing so to avenge a guy accused of potential misconduct that may put their own privacy at risk.
NYT was the first to report on a new whistleblower complaint, from Social Security’s Chief Data Officer, Chuck Borges, alleging that DOGE boys created a live copy of the entire Social Security database. Specifically, the complaint alleges:
- When DOGE personnel were given access to Social Security data in mid-March, they had equipment pin access (meaning actions could not be traced to one user) and write access, potentially violating laws protecting IRS data.
- After Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander imposed a Temporary Restraining Order on DOGE access on March 20, DOGE almost immediately restored — and expanded — access to Social Security data, potentially exposing those who granted access to CFAA hacking charges.
- After SCOTUS lifted the preliminary injunction on this data, DOGE created their own replica of SSA’s Numerical Identification System on an insecure server.
A risk assessment of recreating a live Social Security database described the catastrophic risk involved.
Developers (presumably DOGE) planned to import NUMIDENT into the cloud, and because AWS-ACI is an extension of the SSA network, any other SSA production data and PII could also be imported; “unauthorized access to the NUMIDENT would be considered catastrophic impact to SSA beneficiaries and SSA programs” [emphasis Borges’];
Since earlier this month, Borges has been trying to understand the impact of that live replica database. Those with access — including Big Balls, but also Aaram Moghaddassi, who first created the replica copies — refused to respond to his questions. What answers he did get only confirmed his concerns. And he learned the the lawyers were instructing people not to answer his questions.
That same day, in response to Mr. Borges’ August 8, 2025 request for information about concerns raised, a CIO employee confirmed that while two cloud access accounts owned by Aaram Moghaddassi were created per SSA policy, they are not managed by the Division of Infrastructure Services (DIS), are self-administered, and include access to both test and live data environments. 67 Also on August 11, 2025 in response to the same August 7, 2025 request from Mr. Borges, another CIO employee provided the July 15, 2025 PATO and the June 25, 2025 approval by Russo of the NUMIDENT data transfer.
This information, while responsive to Mr. Borges’ request for information regarding data security concerns, serves to support Mr. Borges’ reasonable belief that the creation of the DOGE specific, self-administered cloud environment lacking independent security controls and hosting a copy of NUMIDENT constitutes an abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, substantial and specific threat to public health and safety, and potentially violation of law, rule, or regulation.
Moreover, to date, Mr. Borges has not received a response to his August 7, 2025 request for information from Coristine, Solly, and Tyquiengco. Nor has he received information to indicate that the cloud environment hosting the American public’s NUMIDENT data is protected by best practice and industry standard independent security controls. This leaves Mr. Borges with the reasonable belief that the NUMIDENT data is at risk of exposure, and without information necessary to effectuate his responsibilities as CDO.
Furthermore, Mr. Borges is aware that the Office of General Counsel has advised employees not to respond to his inquiries.68 Such restriction on information to the CDO puts Mr. Borges in an untenable position inhibiting his ability to effectuate the responsibilities of his role
When Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from lifting the preliminary injunction in June, she talked about how badly the Court was skewing relative harm, granting DOGE access — including to people like Big Balls — even while privacy law protected the data.
Just last week, I wrote about the requirements for granting stay applications and, in particular, how this Court’s emergency-docket practices were decoupling from the traditional harm-reduction justification for equitable stays. See Noem, 605 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 5). With today’s decision, it seems as if the Court has truly lost its moorings. It interferes with the lower courts’ informed and equitable assessment of how the SSA’s data is best accessed during the course of this litigation, and it does so without any showing by the Government that it will actually suffer concrete or irreparable harm from having to comply with the District Court’s order.
[snip]
Stepping back to take a birds-eye view of the stay request before us, the Government’s failure to demonstrate harm should mean that the general equity balance tips decisively against granting a stay. See Noem, 605 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 4). On the one hand, there is a repository of millions of Americans’ legally protected, highly sensitive information that—if improperly handled or disseminated—risks causing significant harm, as Congress has already recognized. On the other, there is the Government’s desire to ditch the usual protocols for accessing that data, before the courts have even determined whether DOGE’s access is lawful. In the first bucket, there is also the state of federal law, which enshrines privacy protections, and the President’s constitutional obligation to faithfully execute the laws Congress has passed. This makes it not at all clear that it is in the public’s interest for the SSA to give DOGE staffers unfettered access to all Americans’ non-anonymized data before its entitlement to such access has been established, especially when the SSA’s own employees have long been subject to restrictions meant to protect the American people.
John Roberts and his Republican colleagues have granted a kid with ties to criminal hackers, Ed “Big Balls” Coristine, live access to every American’s Social Security data.
And Jeanine Pirro thinks she should look to the streets of DC to find crime.
The crime is coming from inside the government. All three branches are involved at the highest levels, and are trying to keep the honest lower levels for doing the jobs they’re sworn to do.
If only Merrick Garland had done his job, instead of chewing each bite of his tuna sandwich 32 times at lunch every day while mulling over the optics of whether or not to charge decades-long criminal Deplorable Don.
Blame McConnell, SCOTUS, and Cannon, not Garland.
Trump being anywhere but behind bars is a total failure of our democratic systems. There’s plenty of blame to go around. I blame Garland, McConnell, Scotus, Cannon, Obama and Biden, plus all the people who preceded them and didn’t prosecute all the people from the second Bush administration who need to be behind bars, plus any number of powerful Republican liars, cheats, and scumbags who’ve effed up our politics going back to the Reagan administration.
Plus the Democratic Party, who couldn’t successfully throw a party in a fully-staffed bar!
Oh hi. The fella who whined bc I blocked similar conspiracy theories against a Jew on Bluesky.
Tell me, dear Michael, which version of the false conspiracy theory blaming everything on a Jew that you adhere to?
Unless you can provide some accurate claims, I will happily block you here.
But, importantly, Jeannine Pirro very much does *not* want to hear you or anyone else–especially some uppity female reporter–ask questions about how GUNS might factor into a phrase Pirro herself threw around at a press conference called to gloat about collaring Sandwich Guy, “gun crime.”
Because it’s not fair at all to single out the poor guns–not when Pirro and Bondi and Trump and Miller have so much “crime” to send Humvees and armed Guardsmen to combat. With strict instructions to leave the poor little guns out of this.
Jeannie Pirro a screaming fishwife. Loud and annoying.
Wonder how much Trump and his gang were paid and by whom to make SS data easily obtainable by bad actors. I doubt they did it for free. And slightly OT, but related to President Lifelong Criminal — he’s accused Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud, citing no evidence, of course. But isn’t mortgage fraud what Trump committed when he grossly exaggerated the square footage of his Trump Tower apartment and ridiculously overvalued Mar A Lago and other properties he owned?
And he’s apparently going after Bolton for mishandling of classified information. He always tries to smear his enemies with the crimes he’s been credibly accused of.
I think there is a strategic component to this. I think it is intended to make those accusations against him look weaker, and less important or significant.
Because “everybody does it,” right? But if so, why charge them and not him too? I mean, I get the strategy, but even a dyed-in-the-wool MAGAt ought to be able to see the disconnect there.
@john paul jones August 26, 2025 at 7:06 pm
“…even a dyed-in-the-wool MAGAt ought to be able to see the disconnect there…”
======
JPJ, surely you jest. MAGAt lemmings are not stellar thinkers. If they ever had a single fantastic thought, that thought died from loneliness a long time ago.
I interact daily with these intellectually dishonest hypocrites. They consider themselves superior to anyone who votes D – and can’t imagine why ANYONE ever would vote D. MAGAts think their feces doesn’t stink.
To which I point out, the alternative is to vote for fascists who take rights away, bigots who are extremely interested about who others love, and racists who want to take away level playing fields. To be a R today, requires complete fealty to a sexual deviant, a convicted felon who never has any second thoughts – because there never was a first. A man who doesn’t let obstacles like competence get in his way. A creep who likes his woman aged as much as a fine Glenlevit cognac – 14 years. In short, fealty to a wretched human being hell-bent on being a DICKtator and spoiling our 250-year old democratic republic.
And more hypocrisy- trump ordering cash only bonds after he had to pony up significant bail for the Georgia case and the NY fraud case. How fun would it have been if he had to hand over cash for his bail?
I had given no thought to Trump getting paid for the data but I surely believe that Musk and his toy boys have almost certainly plundered the nation’s data for their own purposes. Why rely on foreign hackers to steal our info when we can just give it away freely to our own local crew. I am waiting to see it sold on the dark net. From Trump down this is an administration of crime, terror and incompetence.
TCS: Transnational Crime Syndicate…
I can’t understand why NYS didn’t prosecute him for each property he overvalued to lenders and undervalued to tax assessors. IF the statute of limitations had expired, okay, BUT this looked like a “slam dunk” for this non lawyer. Moreover, couldn’t NYS have used their version of RICO laws to prosecute the Drumpf (dis)Organization as a continuing criminal enterprise.
a pithy quote, think i read it right here at EW:
“in MAGA every accusation is an admission.”
Leon contributed 250M to the tRump campaign. In return he got data from every service DOGE infiltrated. The data is now up for sale.
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“And Jeanine Pirro thinks she should look to the streets of DC to find crime.”
That would work, especially if she looks to the streets leading to the White House. And those heading in that direction for work.
Besides Ed Coristine’s own lack of trustworthiness, he has a recent family history of double dealing. His Russian KGB grandfather was executed for being a double agent.
Interesting. Have you a link for that story?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-s-protege-big-balls-is-grandson-of-executed-kgb-agent-report-says-b2703739.html
I may have originally read that info here, maybe from one of the commenters.
Thanks to Molly P. for adding a link to the story. I also saw it on wikipedia (if that’s any good) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Coristine.
And Newsweek had a story mentioning it, but their story said it was his great grandfather.
So now, ??
https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-doge-edward-coristine-big-balls-kgb-agent-2036520
pretty cheesy, if you ask me.
(just a link to a silly picture)
punaise ! How was France ? Was there flooding when you were there ?
Hey Molly! No flooding in Brittany (Cotes d’Armor)- actually had really nice (mild/warm) sunny weather for once! It was a very grandbaby-centric vacation. Biggest “letdown”: we didn’t put much of a dent in our cellared red wine supply.
So it’s all there in Brittany for those of us just a ferry ride away?
;p
There is a much darker explanation for these actions. Trump and the DOGE boys have put their fingers on the payment system. They can probably turn off, at Trump’s order any payment the Federal government can make. Mechanically, not legally.
So this gives them a threat – one that is now quite credible – to use on people. “Do it or we turn off Grandma’s SS. Yeah, after maybe a couple years of legal wrangling she’ll get it turned back on, but she’s gonna be miserable in the meantime. Now, are you gonna play ball?”
I think that it’s possible that they are already taking this line with certain Representatives and Senators but with regard to other payouts that their respective states depend on.
And that pilfered SSA information also includes bank information for automatic deposits.
And since the “government” can claw back payments from people’s accounts, it seems likely that these perps can also move money via authorized EFTs.
(Sorry – switched browsers and don’t remember my orignal email address.)
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Do DOGE staffers have pre-signed and post-dated pardons in their pockets? The type of legal exposure for DOGE, both collectively and individually is significant. I don’t think that President Trump would be inclined NOW to pardon Elmo’s former employees and President-in-Shadows Thiel (if Bowman/Vance becomes President) would care because Palantir will thrive without Big Ballz.
If Bowman becomes president, do we also get the old “Bowman personality” along with that??
Big Balls and his peers should worry that the statute of limitations on anything they did for and after DOGE doesn’t expire for at least a year after the legal end of the Trump administration.
The intent of the entire tRump Administration is to have criminals serving criminals. Where we stand now is succintly summed up in a substack by Garrett Graff in a post in 8/25/25. We have crossed the line from “democracy” to “authoritarianism.”
What is the success rate of democracy winning after its people have elected fascists? It’s 0%.
medium dot com – by Chris Armitage fills in the 0% history, dated 8/13/25
How can the people whose info was stolen be notified? Usually the company or govt would notify you of a hack and your info was stolen. But this time the Supreme Court gave the govt permission to steal your info. So how would this get out to the people? Full page ads in newspapers? Billboards? Ads on social media? Who does stuff like that? And do they need donations? If Newsome asked for money to yell this from the mountain tops, I would give him some.
Like what the fuck!
https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/whistleblower-says-doge-stashed-300-million-social-security-ids-on-vulnerable-server/
“Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital health care and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for reissuing every American a new Social Security number at great cost,” Borges wrote.
This is what happens when you have a weak leader.
I DID have to call social security some months ago, because I had trouble accessing my own account (long story, won’t bother to write it out here), and I asked the telephone answerer about whether my information was compromised or secure. She laughed and said she didn’t know.
I much preferred Tyler Durden’s solution for the surveillance state to this one.
(Apologies and sincere thanks for all of your efforts, Rayne–it’s been a coon’s age since I’ve commented and I can remember little except that I intended to use my actual name. Also this is not a call for violence, but a metaphor.)
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The huge problem remains — nobody has, so far, been able to stop him. Delay and delay and delay has mostly worked with the courts. Appeal after appeal happens every time that a ruling doesn’t go his way, and then the ruling is stayed, ‘on appeal’. Judges get the run around from DOJ attorneys, with no consequences other than a tut tut. Some very smart people have devised ways to work within the gray area of the law and to destroy the intent of the law.
He’s still bludgeoning universities, and not enough major law firms have stood up to him. Almost half of Project 2025’s goals have already been met. 2026 elections will happen, but whether they will be ‘free and fair’ won’t be determined until the election is over. We’re in uncharted territory, and better minds than mine haven’t managed to put a stop to it. “A Republic, if you can keep it”. The outcome is in doubt.
I think we’re approaching, — with this and with the National Guard being deployed against blue cities and states — the point in our unfolding history that was implicated when P25’s Roberts said “our revolution will be bloodless…if the left allows it to be.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/04/leader-of-the-pro-trump-project-2025-suggests-there-will-be-a-new-american-revolution-00166583
It should be noted that Opus Dei were also involved in the technocratic side of Franco’s Fascist project, joining up with him after his rivals dissapated. Someone should do a study of the similarities between that Cold War Iberian nightmare and our current New World metastasis, the RW Catholic Project 25, a cabal that has multiple O.D. tentacles.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/26/kevin-roberts-project-2025-opus-dei
Maybe Pope Leo will bring their Prelate to heel! Hah.
“It’s the theocracy, stupid.”
Back to ‘Big Balls’. He was out at 3AM, wandering about in DC. Anybody want to take the bet that he was drunk? As a college ‘party guy’ myself, I’m willing to say that he was, without a shadow of a doubt, and he was probably being loud and mouthy, which got the attention of a group of young people that didn’t take kindly to the type of mouthiness that he exhibited. Brash, rude, and maybe racist, will get attention that isn’t what anybody would describe as ‘benign’. Being a racist dick isn’t the way to make friends anywhere except in white bars in Confederate enclaves, and that ain’t D.C.
I bet he was also bragging about his performance with ladies.
That’s exactly what I thought when I read about this incident – Big Balls was obviously leaving the DC bars drunk at 2 a.m. and made some smart ass comments to some 15 year old punks hanging out, who happened to be black, and they beat his face in. Actions have consequences. I say, it serves him right! There are a lot of senior citizens who would like to do the same to him, for messing with our Social Security data!
On the broader topic of crime in America, what we are seeing now is street crime is drying up while white collar crime is running rampant! They have eliminated most of the DOJ departments that dealt with white collar crime and now the grifters like Trump and his failsons can set up all kind of sham companies and crypto “coins” that aren’t worth a nickel. It is a field day for the rich white criminals! Dems should be campaigning on stomping out white collar crime!
While what you say about his condition at 3 AM may be true; however, this generation drinks far less than ours did but I do get the vibe that they also think they are smarter and more self righteous as whole.
When I went to frat parties in the 80s, kegs were the norm, now its Pepsi.
NO BILL for the Hero
Prosecutors Fail to Secure Indictment Against Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent It was a sharp rebuke to the prosecutors who are dealing with the fallout from President Trump’s move to send National Guard troops and federal agents into Washington.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/us/politics/trump-sandwich-assault-indictment-justice-department.html Aug. 27, 2025 Updated 9:26 a.m. ET
No indictment, great. But sometimes, not proceeding with a case can create problems, as we’ve seen recently in some courthouses. Here’s a case on point (from Law360 today).
A former immigration judge said in a new court filing that his assistant chief immigration judge directed him to grant the government’s motions to dismiss removal cases, clearing the way for immigration agents to immediately apprehend and detain those leaving court.
George Pappas, who served as an immigration judge from July 2023 until this July, said in a declaration on Monday in a nonprofits’ suit challenging courthouse arrests that the directive from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security came as immigration officers began popping up in courthouses to arrest immigrants in June.
The case is African Communities Together et al. v. Lyons et al., 1:25-cv-06366, SDNY.
Gee, who’da thunk it?