Edward Coristine, a graduate of Rye Country Day School who gained notoriety for his role in President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, was badly beaten in an attempted carjacking in Washington, D.C. early Sunday.
Coristine and his girlfriend were in an area north of the White House and National Mall around 3 a.m. on Aug. 3 when approximately 10 teenagers surrounded their car, allegedly making comments about seizing the vehicle. The 19-year-old then pushed his girlfriend inside the car, according to D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, and “turned to deal with the suspects,” who began viciously assaulting him.
Officers patrolling the area witnessed the attack but weren’t able to apprehend most of the suspects who ran off. Police were able to catch two of them – a 15-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl from Maryland – and arrested and charged them with unarmed carjacking.
The former DOGE staffer was treated on scene by the DC Fire Department and EMS for injuries sustained in the assault, according to DC Metro police.
DC Metro police didn’t answer The Record’s questions about the extent of the injuries Coristine appeared to sustain, if there was a connection between him and the suspects, or any specific motive for the attack.
But a source familiar with the matter told the New York Post that Coristine sustained a broken nose, concussion, and black eye in the assault.
On Tuesday, President Trump attempted to politicize the assault – posting a photo of a bloodied Coristine on his Truth Social platform. He even called for a complete overhaul of the city’s crime laws, saying “the law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14.”
Trump also vowed to use his power to “federalize” D.C. if similar attacks continue – which he did earlier this month, deploying the National Guard to conduct monument security and community safety patrols, according to the Associated Press. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Tuesday that 465 people have been arrested, and 68 firearms seized since Trump’s crackdown in the nation’s capital.
After officials sued the Trump administration, however, the president agreed to leave D.C. police in control of the city.
At Rye Country Day School, Coristine participated in the Economics Club and was a member of the varsity wrestling team, according to the school’s yearbook.
After his graduation from Rye Country Day last year, the teenager made local and national headlines when he was one of the first hired under Trump and former DOGE head Elon Musk as a senior advisor for the department.
Coristine aided DOGE’s efforts to cut government spending among myriad federal agencies, according to multiple news outlets.
Shortly after Musk left the agency, Coristine resigned from DOGE this summer, according to the New York Times, and took a temporary job at the federal Social Security Administration as a special government employee.
This story was updated at 11 a.m. on Aug. 19.
Avery Gershwin contributed to this report.
