SSA Whistleblower’s Resignation Email Mysteriously Disappeared From Inboxes

On Friday, the Social Security Administration’s main information officer, Chuck Borges, sent an email to bureau unit claiming that helium was forcibly removed from his presumption aft filing a whistleblower ailment this week accusing the bureau of mishandling delicate bureau data. Minutes aft the email went out, it disappeared from worker inboxes, 2 SSA sources archer WIRED.

“I americium regretfully and involuntarily leaving my presumption astatine the Social Security Administration (SSA),” Borges wrote successful the resignation missive to unit obtained by WIRED. “This involuntary resignation is the effect of SSA’s actions against me, which marque my duties intolerable to execute legally and ethically, person caused maine superior attendant mental, physical, and affectional distress, and represent a constructive discharge.”

Less than 30 minutes aft staffers received the email, it mysteriously disappeared from worker inboxes, the SSA sources archer WIRED. It is not wide whether the email had been restored aft it was made unavailable, nor was the crushed for the email’s disappearance instantly clear. One SSA staffer speculates that it was removed due to the fact that it was captious of the agency.

“It surely didn’t overgarment CIO enactment successful a favorable light," 1 SSA root says, referring to the SSA’s main accusation officer.

Under the Federal Records Act of 1950, US agencies are typically required by law to support interior records, including emails.

Independent writer Marisa Kabas was archetypal to study connected Borges’ resignation and his email’s disappearance successful posts connected Bluesky.

Neither Borges nor SSA instantly responded to requests for comment.

The “involuntary resignation” comes days aft Borges filed a ceremonial whistleblower complaint to the US Office of Special Counsel accusing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of wrongfully uploading SSA data, which included highly delicate accusation connected millions of radical with Social Security numbers, to an unsecure unreality server. Borges alleges that uploading “live” SSA information to a unreality server extracurricular of bureau protocols is amerciable and could enactment the information astatine hazard of being hacked oregon leaked.

“Recently, I person been made alert of respective projects and incidents which whitethorn represent violations of national statutes oregon regulations, impact the imaginable information and information of precocious worth information assets successful the cloud, perchance provided unauthorized oregon inappropriate entree to bureau endeavor information retention solutions, and whitethorn impact unauthorized information speech with different agencies,” Borges wrote successful his Friday letter.

In a connection to The New York Times connected Tuesday, SSA spokesperson Nick Perrine defended the agency’s data-security practices and claimed that the information Borges’ ailment references is “walled disconnected from the internet.”

“SSA stores each idiosyncratic information successful unafraid environments that person robust safeguards successful spot to support captious information,” Perrine said. “The information referenced successful the ailment is stored successful a longstanding situation utilized by SSA and walled disconnected from the internet. High-level vocation SSA officials person administrative entree to this strategy with oversight by SSA’s accusation information team.”

Borges’ whistleblower ailment included documents showing that DOGE affiliate John Solly, moving nether the SSA, asked a vocation bureau worker to transcript information from Numident, a maestro SSA database including a lifelong grounds of each SSN holders, to a “virtual backstage cloud,” identified successful the ailment arsenic an Amazon Web Services server controlled by SSA. Edward “Big Balls” Coristine was besides progressive with the project, according to the complaint.

"Mr. Borges’ disclosures impact wrongdoing including evident systemic information information violations, uninhibited administrative entree to highly delicate accumulation environments, and imaginable violations of interior SSA information protocols and national privateness laws by DOGE unit Edward Coristine, Aram Moghaddassi, John Solly, and Michael Russo,” the ailment reads. “These actions represent violations of laws, rules, and regulations, maltreatment of authority, gross mismanagement, and instauration of a important and circumstantial menace to nationalist wellness and safety."

Neither Coristine, Moghaddassi, Solly, nor Russo instantly responded to WIRED’s petition for comment.