Back

Among those tapped for the task are Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners, who also served on the board of #Tesla Inc & was an early investor in #SpaceX …as well as Scott Coulter, formerly of Lone Pine Capital, & Michael Russo, formerly of Shift4….

Those names, confirmed in agency & court documents, underscore the importance that the #SocialSecurity agency has taken as a beachhead for #Musk’s #government *cost-cutting* effort.

#Trump elevated a mid-level anti-fraud specialist, Leland Dudek, to be #SocialSecurity’s acting commissioner last month — skipping over more than 150 higher-ranking supervisors at the agency.

Dudek had cooperated with #DOGE, helping to bring Russo & Coulter into the agency, according to a sworn statement filed Friday by #TiffanyFlick, the former agency chief of staff who retired when Dudek was promoted.

Russo arrived Feb 3, & “introduced himself as a #DOGE representative to multiple employees on multiple occasions,” #TiffanyFlick said. He now serves as the agency’s chief information officer. Russo also brought on Akash Bobba, a fmr intern for #PeterThiel’s #Palantir Technologies Inc, to *analyze* #SocialSecurity data.

Bobba’s onboarding was unusual, acc/to #TiffanyFlick, who said his background check was held up for a few days. She said she received pressure from Russo & Steve Davis, who runs #Musk’s Boring Co & is also working for #DOGE, to get Bobba credentials by midnight on Feb 10. Bobba was sworn in over the phone, “contrary to standard practice,” she said.

#TiffanyFlick said she didn’t know what #DOGE was working on, but that it seemed to have something to do with allegations of widespread *fraud* that she considered to be “invalid.”

A spox for the #SocialSecurity Administration did not respond to questions about DOGE’s work at the agency. Russo, Gracias, Coulter, Bobba & Davis also did not respond to messages seeking comment.

#Trump has used #SocialSecurity as a primary example for what he casts as a govt rampant w/*fraud, waste & abuse*, claiming there are millions of people at advanced ages—including some purportedly over 100 years of age—still collecting agency checks.

“I’m not going to touch Social Security, #Medicare, #Medicaid. Now, we’re going to get *fraud* out of there,” Trump said in an interview Sun. “…We have people 250 years old & all, tremendous fraud.” [LIE, this has been repeatedly debunked]