#Musk’s deputies became so intent on their work at #SocialSecurity that they pushed employees to continue giving them access to sensitive agency data even after a federal judge demanded that DOGE’s access be cut off, acc/to 2 people…. #SCOTUS ruled this month that #DOGE’s access can resume.

#DOGE leaders pressured agency executives to hire a 21-year-old former INTERN at #Palantir, a #data analysis & #technology firm, & grant him #access to the #PersonalData of EVERY #SocialSecurity cardholder despite the executives’ concerns that he lacked sufficient training to handle such sensitive #information.

In response, #Musk’s team mobilized dozens of #SocialSecurity employees to *affirm* their views about fraud & began a project to ensure dead people were properly classified so they weren’t mistakenly paid — even though #DOGE officials acknowledged in an internal memo that payments were not being made in those cases.

The Times’s investigation found that #Musk became fixated on #SocialSecurity in early February after members of his team misread government spending data — a pivotal & previously unreported moment that #DOGE believed had exposed massive fraud inside the agency.

#Musk has left Washington amid a blowup with #Trump, & some of his top aides at #DOGE have also departed, leaving federal workers & the public to assess what Musk’s tornadolike path through Washington yielded. At #SocialSecurity, Musk’s efforts amount to a case study in what happened when his team of government novices ran a critical government agency through #misinformation & #socialmedia blasts.

Their work has led to the departures of thousands of employees, thinning an already overstretched work force & setting off a wave of public anxiety over the state of an agency administering politically sacrosanct #retirement #benefits that #Trump vowed to protect.

Throughout the early months of this #Trump presidency, #Musk & his allies systematically built a false narrative of widespread fraud at the #SocialSecurity Admin based on misinterpreted data, using their claims to justify an aggressive effort to gain access to #PersonalInformation on millions of Americans, a NYT investigation has found.

@SnowshadowII

There is a good podcast produced by CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority) that is focused on online misinformation and disinformation this season. For anyone who is interested in learning more about this topic, and some tools everyone can use to figure out what’s real, have a listen.
#misinformation #disinformation #factcheck #MediaLiteracy

https://www.cira.ca/en/resources/documents/state-of-internet/whats-up-with-the-internet-with-takara-small/

Overnight #KilmarAbregoGarcia’s attorneys asked Judge #Xinis for severe sanctions against the #Trump admin for violating court orders, saying officials stonewalled them for months, & outright lied.

They want fines & an investigation.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.578815/gov.uscourts.mdd.578815.195.0.pdf