The criminal activities that 19-year-old Edward Coristine, one of the most recognized members of the Government Efficiency Department managed by billionaire businessman Elon Musk in the US, was involved in the past have sparked controversy.

It has emerged that Edward Coristine, one of the most prominent members of the advisory commission named the United States Government Efficiency Department (U.S. DOGE Service), which aims to significantly reduce the size of the US government, has supported a cybercrime gang that alleges he engaged in data theft and harassed an FBI agent in the past. Coristine, praised by Musk, is one of the most remarkable names in the DOGE team. It is indicated that Coristine, who is 19 years old, once managed a company named DiamondCDN. According to corporate and digital records examined by Reuters and interviews with former colleagues, this company providing network services was established in 2022. Among the clients of Coristine’s company was a website operated by a cybercrime gang named “EGodly.” According to the records of internet intelligence platforms DomainTools and Any.Run, IP addresses of DiamondCDN and other organizations owned by Coristine were connected to the website named “dataleak.fun” operated by EGodly. On February 15, 2023, in a share made by EGodly on Telegram, they thanked DiamondCDN: “We appreciate DiamondCDN for being valuable partners and generously providing us with great DDoS protection and caching systems. Thanks to these systems, we can safely host and protect our site.” According to digital records examined by Reuters, EGodly’s website was protected by DiamondCDN’s security systems between October 2022 and June 2023. According to officials from the US Department of State and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Coristine’s name appears on both agencies’ personnel lists as a “senior advisor.” Coristine describes himself as a “Volunteer (Intern) Plumber” in the US government on his LinkedIn profile. However, the Department of State did not respond to Reuters’ questions on the subject. CISA refused to comment on the matter.EGODLY’S CRIMINAL RECORDS

EGodly claimed in a Telegram channel in 2023 that they had obtained phone numbers, hacked email accounts belonging to law enforcement agencies in Latin America and Eastern Europe, and committed cryptocurrency theft. They also allegedly exposed the private information of an FBI agent by claiming they were being investigated by the FBI. EGodly shared the FBI agent’s phone number, pictures of his house, and other personal information on Telegram and publicly released an audio recording of a prank call to the agent. EGodly also shared a video filmed passing in front of the agent’s house in Wilmington, Delaware. In the video, a person can be heard shouting “EGodly, you’re a loser!” from the inside of a vehicle. Reuters confirmed whether the video of the FBI agent’s house was real by going to the address in Wilmington and comparing the building with the images. A former FBI agent who spoke to Reuters mentioned that EGodly attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies and was involved in the group’s swatting actions. The FBI agent, who described them as “dangerous people,” avoided making further comments. The FBI did not respond to Reuters’ questions. Reuters could not confirm how long DiamondCDN worked with EGodly or whether they received any payment from this collaboration. However, archived web pages of DiamondCDN indicate that they provided services for both paid and free users.”A SERIOUS SECURITY RISK”

Former Deputy Director of CISA Nitin Natarajan expressed concern that Coristine’s past connection with EGodly and his current wide access to US government networks poses a serious security risk: “These events are not ancient history. It poses a serious security risk for someone associated with an extremely dangerous group to currently have access to government systems.” These developments raise questions about the credibility of the “DOGE Service” initiative launched by Musk with the promise of downsizing state systems and technological transformation.