By AJ Dellinger Published February 21, 2025 | Comments (65) | Elon Musk raising an eyebrow Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Look, sure its not ideal that decisions that the federal government is being gutted agency by agency, stripped of purpose, funding, and staffing by Elon Musk and a team of 20-something-year-old edgelords who were sourced from a network of tech bro crypto-fascists and boost the messaging of white nationalists in their free time, but at least none of them are directly related to anyone deeply involved in the intelligence apparatus of a foreign adversary. Now, let me take a big sip of water and check out journalist Jacob Silvermans latest report So, you know that DOGE staffer who goes by Big Balls, otherwise known as 19-year-old Edward Coristinean alleged former member of online cybercriminal organization The Com and a cybersecurity worker who reportedly got fired from his job for leaking company secrets? Well, turns out theres another layer to his dubious background. According to independent journalist Jacob Silverman, Coristine is the grandson of Valery Martynov, a former KGB spy. Per Silvermans research, Martynov was an officer in the technical espionage division of the Russian intelligence agency back in 1980, when he was sent to the United States to serve as an undercover agent at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. About two years into his stay, Martynov got flipped by the FBI and started to feed the US government Soviet secrets. Martynov was eventually identified as compromised by KGB counterintelligence officer Victor Cherkashin, who had himself successfully developed sources within the US intelligence agencies. In order to get Martynov back to Russia without him suspecting that he was found out, Cherkashin was asked to escort another Soviet spy back home (its a long story that Silverman explains in detail). As soon as the plane touched down, Martynov was arrested and ultimately executed. His widow eventually moved to the United States permanently, where she and her children would settle, marry, and have kidsincluding Edward.Edward started at DOGE working on the General Services Administration, where he reportedly would call employees to make them explain code they had written and justify their jobs, according to Wired. Earlier this month, he wasnamed a senior adviser in the State Departments Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, where a significant amount of sensitive data related to American diplomatic operations is stored. The Washington Post reported that his role could give him the ability to obtain unauthorized access to classified material and to compromising information on other countries and foreign activities. So anyway, a former KGB agents grandkid who seemingly did not have to undergo a background check has unprecedented access to sensitive State Department data. Thats just a thing that is happening now. Is it a big deal? I have no idea. Its just one of those details that you hear and youre like, Yeah that sounds like a likely thing to happen with these guys.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Thomas Maxwell Published February 21, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published February 21, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published February 21, 2025 Adam Kovac and George Dvorsky Published February 21, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published February 20, 2025 By Matt Novak Published February 20, 2025