Edward Coristine
Tech Industry Links: Neuralink
Perhaps the most famous of the DOGE wreckers, Edward “Big Balls” Coristine achieved early attention for joining DOGE at the young age of 19. Previously, he had been a camp counselor and a summer intern at Neuralink, who grew up in wealth and joined up with hacking groups online, before eagerly jumping on to the DOGE bandwagon. However, he has also accrued a large number of hits on his wrecking spree across the federal government, starting at the GSA on Day One and then detailing to OPM and a large number of other agencies within a short amount of time; for instance, he appears to have been DOGE’s vanguard within the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, he has been linked to a team developing an online application for a $5 Million “Gold Card” Visa that has been promoted by Trump as a new revenue stream for the US.
Likely aliases: OPM-04
Positions
| Position | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
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c.1/20-5/23
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[as OPM-04] appointed Senior Advisor, Immediate Office of the Administrator (SGE, NTE 2026-01-19, EF-00, excepted, volunteer) «Start date and agency inferred from later reporting» Wired | |
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1/27
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likely detailed as Senior Advisor, Office of the CIO «Date at USAID reported by NYT» Wash. Post | |
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2/03
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likely detailed «Only source is a single tweet. More info needed. Assuming detail from GSA.» X.com | |
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c.2/04
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likely detailed as Senior Advisor «Date unverified, but assuming predates sighting at FEMA» Wash. Post | |
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2/05
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internal xfer Wash. Post | |
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2/10
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detail to Senior Advisor, Bureau of Diplomatic Technology Wash. Post | |
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internal xfer «NYT links him to TSA, but no other info public» NYT | |
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internal xfer NYT | |
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2/19
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internal xfer Senior Advisor Wired | |
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2/20
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detail | |
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3/05
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likely detailed as Executive Engineer «Date verified in court document, assuming detail from GSA» court doc | |
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3/05
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internal xfer «Granted access to CMS systems on same day as detail to HHS» | |
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5/31-6/23
resigned
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converted to permanent position Senior Advisor (GS-15, $167,603 - $195,200) «Salary range for GS-15 in DC» Wired | |
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c.6/23
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appointed (SGE) Wired | |
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likely detailed as DOGE Advisor «identified by agency FOIA as having been at the agency, guessing detailed» American Oversight |
Systems
| System | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
USA Performance
1/28
|
1/28 | USA Performance
System tracking job performance of federal employees (OPM) unknown access «system name is listed as “USA Performance - U.S. Office of Personnel Management”» |
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HIGLAS
2/05
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2/05 | Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System
A single, integrated dual-entry accounting system that centralizes accounting for CMS programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. (CMS) read access granted by CIO court doc |
|
FEMA-Go
2/07
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2/07 | FEMA Grants Outcomes
A system for managing grant program for communities affected by disasters (FEMA) read access Wash. Post |
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Office365
2/20
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2/20 | Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is used for agency email and knowledge management systems. (CISA) admin access NBC News |
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CALM
3/05
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3/05 | CMS Acquisition Lifecycle Management System
System for tracking CMS acquisitions, contracts, milestones and audits. (CMS) read access granted by CIO court doc |
|
IDR
3/11
|
3/11 | Integrated Data Repository
A data warehouse that receives all Medicare claims after they have been approved for payment (CMS) read access granted by CIO court doc |
Events
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
1/20
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|
1/27
|
Onboard:
Still convinced that USAID is deliberately committing insubordination against the executive order, Peter Marocco arrives at USAID with DOGE staffers Luke Farritor, Edward Coristine and Clayton Cromer to audit USAID’s accounts.
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1/27
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Access:
Charles Ezell sends an email to OPM IT staff stating that OPM-02 (Riccardo Biasini), OPM-04 (Edward Coristine), and OPM-06 (Nikhil Rajpal) “urgently” need access to several sensitive systems within the agency.
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1/28
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Access:
OPM grants OPM-02 (Riccardo Biasini), OPM-04 (Edward Coristine), and OPM-06 (Nikhil Rajpal) full administrative access to the systems USAJOBS, USA Staffing, USA Performance, eOPF, and EHRI. This access included “[c]ode read and write permissions.”
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1/28
|
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1/31
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2/03
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Sighting:
Email to SBA staff announces that Edward Coristine and Donald Park were granted access to all systems including HR, contract, and payment systems.
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2/05
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Access:
Despite claims by a CMS spokesperson to the contrary, multiple DOGE staff (Edward Coristine, Marko Elez and Aram Moghaddassi) are granted access to the Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System (HIGLAS) after arriving at CMS headquarters. This system tracks all payments made by Medicare, among other expenditures.
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|
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2/10
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Sighting:
Edward Coristine and Luke Farritor are both listed in the State Department’s directory as Senior Advisors within the Bureau of Diplomatic Technology.
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2/10
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Sighting:
Edward Coristine appears in an online DHS staff directory with the title of Senior Advisor.
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2/12
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Directory:
In a FOIA request, Democracy Forward names DOGE staff known to be at OPM at that time.
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2/19
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Access:
Edward Coristine and Kyle Schutt are reportedly given elevated access to CISA systems, including documents and staff emails.
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3/XX
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Disruption:
Kyle Schutt and Edward Coristine repeatedly pressure staff over the next two months at DHS to use Grok, a chatbot from Elon Musk’s xAI, despite the fact it had not been approved for use in the agency. A DHS spokesperson later denied the allegations.
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3/04
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Directory:
Wired reports that some DOGE staff (Kyle Schutt, Nate Cavanaugh) are being paid as full-time GSA employees, but other staff are listed as volunteers for that agency.
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3/05
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Access:
A second wave of DOGE members detailed to HHS (Edward Coristine, Marko Elez and Aram Moghaddassi) are granted read access to the CMS Acquisition Lifestye Management System (CALM), which tracks CMS aquisitions and contracts
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3/05
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Directory:
The Intercept receives a list of 30 DOGE staffers working within the Executive Office of the President (EOP), including 4 lawyers previously not listed
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3/13
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Directory:
As later reported in a declaration in AFL-CIO et al. vs. Department of Labor, HHS employee Mark Samburg finds DOGE staff at the agency listed in an online directory as Executive Engineers (and Rachel Riley as a Senior Advisor).
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|
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3/20
|
Directory:
Wired Magazine list DOGE staff stationed within GSA, all of whom were listed on GSA payroll on March 20, the same day Stephen Ehikian claimed there were no DOGE staff in the agency.
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3/28
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Access:
USCIS CIO William McElhaney sends a message to DHS Deputy Secretary asking them to review access that was granted to DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt, Edward Coristine, Aram Moghaddassi and Payton Rehling.
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3/29
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||
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3/29
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Legal:
In a legal filing, the DOJ identifies 4 DOGE staffers - Edward Coristine, Marko Elez, Luke Farritor and Amy Gleason - as present at CMS. It omits the names of several other staffers with access to the CALM system.
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4/08
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4/11
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4/16
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Directory:
Three DOGE staffers – Marko Elez, Edward Coristine and Joe Gebbia – are reported to be working with staff from DHS, the State Department and USCIS on implementing an application process for a $5 Million “Gold Card” visa. It is unclear what agencies they are working for and how this partnership has been structured.
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5/16
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Directory:
In a response to a FOIA request made by American Oversight, SBA provides a list of all people who have been identified as communication on agency head Kelly Loefler’s behalf. It includes a number of people known to be DOGE and others with the title Senior Advisor who might also be doge.gov
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5/23
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Disruption:
Reuters reports that DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt and Edward Coristine have attempted to gain access to DHS employee emails in recent months and ordered staff to train AI to identify communications suggesting an employee is not “loyal” to Trump’s political agenda. Given earlier reports, the AI in question is like xAi’s “Grok” AI system.
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5/31
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Report:
Edward Coristine and Luke Farritor’s roles are both converted into regular positions at the GSA at the GS-15 level, which would mean an annual salary of $167,603 - $195,200 in Washington, DC. This is the maximum level possible for a general government worker, and it often takes years or decades to reach. It would not normally be granted to staff with such limited work experience.
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6/23
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Sighting:
Edward Coristine is reportedly sighted at the Woodlawn, MD location of the Social Security Administration alongside Aram Moghaddassi. It is later confirmed that he is now working as a Special Government Employee (SGE) for the agency after he had resigned his position at GSA.
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6/23
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Offboard:
Less than a month after he was officially hired at GSA, Edward Coristine reportedly resigns his position and is removed from the building directory.
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Open Questions
- Now that Edward Coristine has left the GSA, does that mean that all his detailing agreements have ended? How many of them were still open?