SSA Whistleblower’s Resignation Email Vanishes From Inboxes
▼ Summary
– Chuck Borges, the Social Security Administration’s chief data officer, was forcibly removed from his position after filing a whistleblower complaint about mishandling sensitive data.
– His resignation email to staff disappeared from employee inboxes within 30 minutes, with sources speculating it was removed for being critical of agency leadership.
– Borges accused the Department of Government Efficiency of illegally uploading sensitive SSA data, including Social Security numbers, to an unsecure cloud server.
– The SSA defended its data-security practices, claiming the data in question is stored in a secure environment walled off from the internet with robust safeguards.
– The whistleblower complaint named specific individuals involved in the alleged data security violations and cited potential threats to public safety and violations of federal laws.
An email sent by the Social Security Administration’s chief data officer, Chuck Borges, vanished from employee inboxes shortly after distribution on Friday. The message detailed his forced departure following a formal whistleblower complaint alleging serious data mishandling by the agency. Multiple SSA sources confirmed the sudden disappearance of the email, which criticized leadership and raised concerns over ethical and legal breaches.
In the resignation letter obtained by reporters, Borges stated he was “regretfully and involuntarily” leaving his post due to actions by the SSA that made it “impossible to perform legally and ethically.” He cited severe mental, physical, and emotional distress, framing his exit as a constructive discharge. Within half an hour of its delivery, the email was removed from staff inboxes, though it remains unclear whether it was later restored or who authorized its deletion.
One SSA insider suggested the message was pulled because it cast agency leadership in an unfavorable light. Under the Federal Records Act, federal agencies are generally required to preserve internal communications, including emails, raising questions about the legality of its removal.
Independent journalist Marisa Kabas first broke the story regarding both Borges’ resignation and the mysterious disappearance of his email in posts on the social platform Bluesky.
Borges had recently filed a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, accusing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of improperly transferring highly sensitive SSA data to an unsecured cloud server. The data included personal information belonging to millions of individuals with Social Security numbers. Borges asserted that moving “live” agency data outside approved protocols was not only illegal but also exposed it to potential hacking or leakage.
In his Friday email, Borges referenced “several projects and incidents” that may have violated federal statutes, compromised cloud data security, and involved unauthorized data exchanges with other agencies.
The SSA has defended its data protection measures. Agency spokesperson Nick Perrine told The New York Times that the data in question is stored in a “long-standing environment” that is “walled off from the internet.” He emphasized that all personal information is kept in secure systems with strong safeguards and oversight by the agency’s information security team.
Documents included in the whistleblower complaint indicate that John Solly, a DOGE affiliate working under SSA, instructed a career employee to copy data from Numident, a master database containing lifelong records of all Social Security number holders, to a virtual private cloud. The complaint identifies this as an Amazon Web Services server managed by the SSA. Edward Coristine, also named in the filing, was reportedly involved in the project.
The complaint alleges “systemic data security violations,” unrestricted administrative access to sensitive environments, and potential breaches of internal protocols and federal privacy laws by DOGE personnel including Coristine, Aram Moghaddassi, John Solly, and Michael Russo. These actions, it claims, represent “gross mismanagement” and pose a “substantial and specific threat to public health and safety.”
None of the individuals named in the complaint responded immediately to requests for comment.
(Source: Wired)
