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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’s 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.” CNN’s Scott Glover, Curt Devine and Audrey Ash contributed to this report..
