Summary

Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old DOGE staffer recently promoted to a senior adviser role in the State Department, is reportedly the grandson of former KGB spy Valery Martynov.

Martynov was executed in the Soviet Union after being exposed as an FBI informant. Coristine, an alleged former cybercriminal, previously worked in the General Services Administration and now has potential access to sensitive diplomatic data.

Concerns have been raised over his background and apparent lack of a security check.

The situation fuels fears about foreign influence in U.S. government operations.

3 points

So what? The KGB hasn’t existed for 30 years or more. My dad was a dead beat, what does that matter? The bigger problem is what he is doing not who his parents and grand parents were lol

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What kind of North Korean “sins of the father” shit is this?

Punish him for his actions of helping Musk take over the government in a coup, not that his grandad did spycraft every nation did in the Cold War.

I don’t care if he was the grandson of Jesus Christ and Buddha if he is a dipshit fascist. Fascists get called out for being fascists, not being related to one they might have never known.

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3 points

What kind of “nuanced” concerntroll is this? No sane person would say shit if the kid was a political moderate but since he’s a fascist swine AND alleged grandson of a secret police officer, 100% I am going to use it against him.

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19 points

National security isn’t fair because its more important than being fair and those who are for any reasons suspect are free to do any of the other hundreds of millions of jobs.

People are absolutely suspect because of their associations.

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9 points

Exactly this. Top Secret clearance typically extends out to three degrees of separation. They’ll check on you, your friends/family, and their friends/family. Because when national security is concerned, they don’t want to risk a leak due to something like a cousin being a spy and going drinking after work with the employee.

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1 point
Deleted by creator
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3 points

100%. This arsehole deserves it.

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-4 points

National security being more important than being fair has been justification to do many of the most horrific acts in recent history.

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3 points

Nonsense. Its normal for a small number of highly secure roles to go only to people whose loyalty is beyond and known doubt. This means if you have questonable family you can only be a CEO, scientist, dentist welder or race car driver or you know all the other jobs other than say head of the NSA or part of the team with access to all our secrets

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0 points
*

Then would a check to everyone of an immigrant family be acceptable? Only people who’s family have never left the country are fit to protect it?

That feels like a violation of the 14th amendment, and ensures only redneck Republican hillbillies are the ones who ensure the safety of Americans.

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2 points

Being a child of an immigrant isn’t kinda depends on where from and whether we are at war with them

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1 point

I’m not sure the people making the jingoistic comments are aware of the implications of this way of thinking.

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34 points

Even if this stupid asshole isn’t related to a KGB spy…WTAF:

recently promoted to a senior adviser role in the State Department

He’s a FUCKING TEENAGER. The guy cannot even legally drink. Cannot rent a car.

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10 points

Elon’s just excited he found someone almost as rizzless as he is.

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15 points

And what is anyone doing about it?

I am seeing nothing but stories today about how trump, musk, and musk’s incel groupies are all tied to russia. And no one arresting them for being undocumented foreign agents.

So why bother reporting?

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1 point

why bother reporting?

Here are some of the many ways this could be answered:

  • To exercise this core freedom, to not lose it. What comes out of it is a much less important question. The day news outlets remain silent about wrongdoings because they believe nobody cares anyways is going to be one of the darkest days towards the death of democracy.
  • Separation of powers means the Press is not the Legislative, which is not the Judicative. The question seems to assume they were all one, or since the Press lacks the means of the other two, it’s mission would be kind of futile. But since these powers are separated, it is irrelevant to the Press wether and what legal actions follow (aside from being stories worth covering in themselves). It’s simply not the job of reporting to carry out arrests, and the lack of arrests, even when necessary, does not devalue the reporting. Maybe even on the contrary: It’s probably of much more value to society to report about things which aren’t already dealt with.
  • It is totally relatable to feel powerless, maybe even getting accustomed to things going south. But I think we should be extra careful how these sentiments are communicated. A necessary prelude to that darkest day from above, is when outlets still report, but are met with nothing but indifferent “water is wet”, “can’t do anything so why care at all?” comments.
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6 points

Who would arrest them? Dems and gop both have spent a century placing nearly all government power with scotus and the executive. The judicial isnt going to start drafting an army of armed officers of the court, so that just means the executive is going to continue to use all of the power both parties decided to give it.

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4 points

America is in shock at the moment.

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2 points

You knew about this before? I didn’t. Report it.

Information is key.

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89 points

Surely the fact that he’s 19 and a senior advisor in a state department is more damning than his lineage? And that Trump is very obviously friendly with Putin?

I think this familial connection is just a storm in a teacup which is sitting inside a much larger storm.

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13 points

U know what I was doing at 19 years old? Nothing…nothing that counted as work. I won a bacon eating contest at college and played a ton of Mario Kart 64.

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3 points

Yeah, and other people led successful military campaigns and even empires at that age.

Alexander “the great” was 20 years old, when he got into power.
Scipio who later defeated Hannibal got his name on the roaster for a daring charge as an 18 years old officer.
Pennypacker was 16-19 years old when he became captain in the US Union army and was 20-22 when he became Brigardier General and was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1865

This is just some quick examples i found, but history is riddled with young people excelling in leadership roles.

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2 points

Yeah, but that’s like when people died from old age when they were 40 have their midlife crisis by the time they’re 21, get married at 12 and cheat on your wife at 16. Have to set up alimony payments. …

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13 points

And that was very responsible of you. Wish more people would be participating in bacon eating contests over actively making the world a worse place. Please play video games and go have harmless fun. It’s better for society.

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4 points

I see what youre saying, but clearly pigs were harmed for this fun.

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-1 points

Surely the fact that he’s 19 and a senior advisor in a state department is more damning than his lineage?

Well firstly, it is the media, they love to sensationalise so they came up with this attention grabbing headline.

And that Trump is very obviously friendly with Putin?

At first I thought both simply have the same ideological inclination, and the speculation that Putin has a kompromat on Trump is a meme. Now, I am increasingly becoming convinced on the latter. Not even Mussolini bent this low to Hitler.

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