Ex-DOGE worker known as 'Big Balls' assaulted in DC, Trump threatens federal action

Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News on Aug 6, 2025

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A former Department of Government Efficiency worker known as “Big Balls” has been identified as the victim of an assault that occurred over the weekend in Washington, D.C.

D.C. Metropolitan Police arrested two suburban 15-year-olds — a boy and a girl — for the attack that left Edward Coristine bloodied.

Cops said the suspects approached the victims around 3 a.m. Sunday, demanded their vehicle, then assaulted one of them. At least two people fled when a police cruiser approached. The teens caught by police are charged with attempted unarmed carjacking. Law enforcement is asking the public to come forward with information regarding the incident.

Coristine was identified after photos of him shirtless and seemingly beaten were posted online. The 19-year-old who gave himself the nickname “Big Balls” now works for the Social Security Administration.

Elon Musk, who once headed DOGE, posted his understanding of events on X.

“A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC,” Musk posted Tuesday. “A @Doge team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her. It is time to federalize DC.”

The attack also got the attention of President Donald Trump, who shared the photo of Coristine looking battered and suggested placing the Nation’s capital under federal control isn’t off the table.

“Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control. Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

He claimed that criminals in D.C. know they can act without impunity while calling for changes including prosecuting suspects as young as 14 years old as adults.

“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” he added.

Trump posted that if violent crimes continue taking place in Washington D.C., he will “exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City.”

Preliminary statistics posted by Washington D.C. officials Wednesday showed violent crime in the city is down 26% from last year.