DOGE operatives gain accounts on classified networks holding nuclear secrets
Two members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have been given accounts on classified networks that hold highly guarded details about America’s nuclear weapons, two independent sources tell NPR.
Luke Farritor, a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern, and Adam Ramada, a Miami-based venture capitalist, have had accounts on the computer systems for at least two weeks, according to the sources who also have access to the networks. Prior to their work at DOGE, neither Farritor nor Ramada appear to have had experience with either nuclear weapons or handling classified information.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy flatly denied that Farritor and Ramada had accessed the networks.
“This reporting is false. No DOGE personnel have accessed these NNSA systems. The two DOGE individuals in question worked within the agency for several days and departed DOE in February,” the spokesperson told NPR in an emailed statement.
The two sources contacted by NPR declined to be identified publicly because they were not authorized to speak about the matter to the press. They were able to directly see Ramada and Farritor’s names in the directories of the networks. The network directories are visible to thousands of employees involved in nuclear weapons work at facilities and laboratories throughout the U.S., but the networks themselves can only be accessed on specific terminals in secure rooms designated for the handling of classified information. [Continue reading…]