Because of this backlog and the bureaucratic process and broken security clearance process, individuals who have not timely received the appropriate clearances are ineligible for access to the White House complex, infrastructure, and technology and are therefore unable to perform the duties for which they were hired.
We don’t like the process, so we’ll do away with the process. Can’t imagine why that process exists in the first place!
Gotcha.
Well, hopefully they learned from the first term in office that you should thoughtfully put names on this list of those who get to bypass the security clearance process. Brian Krebs has that one covered:
Wired reported this week that a 19-year-old [Edward Coristine] working for Elon Musk‘s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was given access to sensitive US government systems even though his past association with cybercrime communities should have precluded him from gaining the necessary security clearances to do so.
To the credit of Mr. Edward Coristine:
- Reportedly goes by the nickname “Big Balls” online.
- Founded “Tesla.Sexy LLC” in 2021 which controls dozens of web domains, including at least two Russian-registered domains.
- Was employed for a short several month period in 2022; was terminated quickly for leaking internal documents to a competitor.
Remember – Trump only gets the best people! ;)
This kid has “security threat” stamped right on his forehead! But that’s just the “deep state” trying to fool you, because Trump’s people all “love America”.1
UPDATE 24 February 2025. Some new reporting from CNN:
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.”
As reported by CNN and others, Coristine now has access to the departments of Homeland Security, FEMA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Hopefully, Musk and Trump keep him away from anything really sensitive.
Normally, I’d offer some grace and not directly blame the guy at the top directly. The President runs a huge operation over there at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and it’s impossible for one person to know what all of his employees are getting up to. But, two things. First, when you’re at the top you are responsible – that’s part of the job. If you don’t want to lead then get out of the way. Second, none of that matters because this is a directive from the President saying out loud to screw the security clearance process. Moreover, Trump’s support of Musk’s doings are explicit, “‘Elon is doing a great job, he’s finding tremendous fraud and corruption and waste,’ he told reporters Friday.” Musk is finding corruption, and even if not finding it directly he’s creating some in the way a cop dropping a baggie of cocaine into your car during a search is ‘finding corruption’ there. ↩︎