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Norms Impact

‘Big Balls’ DOGE Guy, 19, Is Now a ‘Senior Adviser’ in State Department

A teenage DOGE operative has been installed as a State Department “senior adviser,” collapsing basic access-control norms at the federal IT hub that underpins U.S. diplomacy.

Executive

Feb 10, 2025

Sources

https://www.thedailybeast.com/big-balls-doge-guy-edward-coristine-19-has-new-gig-at-state-department/

Summary

Edward Coristine, 19, is now listed as a “senior adviser” in the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology while also holding roles tied to the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management. This placement routes a politically connected outside-aligned operative into a core federal data and IT hub that supports U.S. diplomacy. The practical consequence is a widened pathway for unauthorized access risks around sensitive government systems and foreign-facing information.

Reality Check

This kind of placement threatens our rights by normalizing politically connected, cross-agency access to the government’s most sensitive systems without clear, publicly accountable safeguards, making unauthorized surveillance and leverage far easier to attempt. The conduct described is not, on its face, a proven crime—but the explicit fears raised track directly to federal exposure under 18 U.S.C. § 641 (theft/conversion of government information), 18 U.S.C. § 1030 (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act), and 18 U.S.C. § 793 (mishandling national defense information) if access or data is misused. Even absent charges, embedding DOGE-linked personnel inside State’s diplomatic technology shop while they pressure federal workers elsewhere is a governance failure that erodes anti–abuse-of-power norms and weakens the integrity of our foreign-affairs machinery.

Detail

Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old known online as “Big Balls,” is listed as a “senior adviser” in the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, a bureau described as a data hub that functions as the IT department for Washington’s diplomatic apparatus.

The State Department role comes in addition to Coristine’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency, where he has been identified as part of a team conducting one-on-one meetings requiring federal workers to justify keeping their jobs. Coristine also holds an official position in DOGE and in the Office of Personnel Management.

Concerns cited by officials include a Bloomberg report that Coristine was previously fired from an internship at Path Network after an internal probe found he leaked sensitive information to a competitor; Coristine has denied the leak. An anonymous official told The Washington Post that the 2022 incident makes his proximity to sensitive material “dangerous,” and others said they fear his position could provide a foothold for unauthorized access to classified material or compromising information about foreign countries and activities.

The Post also reported that Luke Farritor, a 23-year-old DOGE engineer, is listed in the State Department directory as working in the same bureau.