The Social Security Administration official who alleged in a whistleblower complaint that the Department of Government Efficiency had put the personal data of millions of Americans on a vulnerable server said in an email Friday that he’s submitting his “involuntary resignation” because of actions the agency has taken against him.
Charles Borges, who’d been the SSA’s chief data officer, said in an email to colleagues — which was obtained by NBC News from a person who received it — that he had experienced retaliation since his whistleblower complaint became public.
He said the SSA’s actions “make my duties impossible to perform legally and ethically” and have caused him “physical, mental and emotional distress.”
He added that since reporting his concerns to management, he has “suffered exclusion, isolation, internal strife, and a culture of fear, creating a hostile work environment and making work conditions intolerable.”
The email also said he’d “recently been made aware of several projects and incidents which may constitute violations of federal statutes or regulations,” but “repeated requests by for visibility into these events have been rebuffed or ignored by agency leadership, with some employees directed not to reply to my queries.”
Borges, his attorneys and SSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Borges’ complaint accused SSA Chief Information Officer Aram Moghaddassi, a longtime ally of Elon Musk, of violating agency policies to “create a live copy of the country’s Social Security information in a cloud environment that circumvents oversight,” in violation of multiple federal statutes.
The file contained the identifying information of more than 300 million Americans, including Social Security numbers and other sensitive information, the complaint said.
“Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital healthcare and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for re-issuing every American new Social Security Number at great cost,” Borges’ complaint said.
Social Security Administration spokesperson Nick Perrine said earlier this week that the data referred to in the complaint was “walled off from the internet” and accessible to high-level career officials with proper oversight.
“We are not aware of any compromise to this environment and remain dedicated to protecting sensitive personal data,” Perrine said in a statement.
The SSA employee who shared Borges’ email with NBC News, said morale is incredibly low among staff at the agency.
“From our point of view we are not being respected,” this person said, adding, “We have lost a ton of people, once DOGE was installed.”
After sending out his email, Borges posted on LinkedIn: “It is never wrong to be morally and ethically right with yourself.”
Julia Jester contributed.
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