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Sept. 29, 2026

DOGE police report letters for New York

New York residents can copy letters asking police and the district attorney to investigate DOGE’s handling of Social Security data under N.Y. Penal Law 190.79 and N.Y. Penal Law 156.10.

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  1. Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, Washington, D.C.
    Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, Washington, D.C.

    New York residents can copy letters asking police and the district attorney to investigate DOGE’s handling of Social Security data under N.Y. Penal Law 190.79 and N.Y. Penal Law 156.10.

    Letters for New York

    These letters are activist material published by The Existentialist Republic. They are not legal advice, and The Existentialist Republic does not act as legal counsel for anyone who files. Each reader decides whether and when to file.

    New York elects a district attorney in each county, and County Law 700 makes it "the duty of every district attorney to conduct all prosecutions for crimes and offenses cognizable by the courts of the county." Executive Law 63(2) directs the attorney general, "whenever required by the governor," to appear before the grand jury "for the purpose of managing and conducting in such court or before such jury criminal actions or proceedings as shall be specified in such requirement," with all the powers of the district attorney.

    Already filed or written to one of these offices? Add your report so it counts, and come back with the reply when it arrives.

    Write your two personal parts once

    Every letter starts with your own opening and ends with your own closing, so no two letters arrive identical. The copy buttons switch on once both are filled in.

    If you are a federal employee or hold a security clearance, you can leave out the police report and send the other letters. Send them from a personal email account on your own time, and sign as a private resident without a job title.

    Letter 1, optional: the police report

    To the [police department or sheriff’s office]:

    [Your opening: where you live and why this matters to you, in one to three sentences.]

    I am reporting suspected identity theft under N.Y. Penal Law 190.79. The Social Security Administration holds my personal information, including in the agency’s Numident file.

    On Jan. 16, 2026, Justice Department lawyers filed a Notice of Corrections to the Record in AFSCME v. Social Security Administration, No. 1:25-cv-00596 (D. Md.), ECF 197. The Social Security Administration reported that the agency’s former Department of Government Efficiency team, known as DOGE, took actions “potentially outside of SSA policy and/or noncompliant with” a March 20, 2025, court order. From March 7 to March 17, 2025, team members shared data through Cloudflare, a third-party server, and the agency has not been able to determine what was shared. On March 3, 2025, a team member emailed the Department of Homeland Security an encrypted file and copied a senior adviser to the U.S. DOGE Temporary Organization and a DOGE-affiliated Labor Department employee. The agency believes the file held personal information, including names and addresses, of about 1,000 people, and the agency has been unable to open it. A team member signed a “Voter Data Agreement” with a political group seeking “to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States.” On March 24, 2025, four days after the court order, a team member searched personal data in the Numident, the agency’s master file of Social Security numbers. In an Aug. 26, 2025, whistleblower disclosure, Charles Borges, then the agency’s chief data officer, said DOGE staff copied the Numident, with records on more than 300 million Americans, to a cloud environment without independent oversight. In March 2026, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General notified congressional committee leaders of a review of “the potential misuse of SSA data by a former DOGE employee.” On April 10, 2026, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction for lack of irreparable harm without ruling on whether DOGE’s access was lawful. U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ordered discovery, including depositions, on April 14, 2026, and on June 26, 2026, refused to withdraw the order, writing that the government “may have ‘provided patently false information to the district court.’”

    The local law enforcement agency for the victim's residence must take a police report and give the complainant a free copy (Executive Law 646). Please take this report and forward it to the [County] District Attorney.

    [Your closing: the reply you want.]

    Respectfully,
    [Full name]
    [Street address]
    [City, state, ZIP]
    [Email or phone]

    Letter 2: the district attorney

    Dear District Attorney [last name]:

    [Your opening.]

    I am asking your office to open a criminal investigation into the conduct described below. The Social Security Administration holds my personal information, including in the agency’s Numident file.

    On Jan. 16, 2026, Justice Department lawyers filed a Notice of Corrections to the Record in AFSCME v. Social Security Administration, No. 1:25-cv-00596 (D. Md.), ECF 197. The Social Security Administration reported that the agency’s former Department of Government Efficiency team, known as DOGE, took actions “potentially outside of SSA policy and/or noncompliant with” a March 20, 2025, court order. From March 7 to March 17, 2025, team members shared data through Cloudflare, a third-party server, and the agency has not been able to determine what was shared. On March 3, 2025, a team member emailed the Department of Homeland Security an encrypted file and copied a senior adviser to the U.S. DOGE Temporary Organization and a DOGE-affiliated Labor Department employee. The agency believes the file held personal information, including names and addresses, of about 1,000 people, and the agency has been unable to open it. A team member signed a “Voter Data Agreement” with a political group seeking “to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States.” On March 24, 2025, four days after the court order, a team member searched personal data in the Numident, the agency’s master file of Social Security numbers. In an Aug. 26, 2025, whistleblower disclosure, Charles Borges, then the agency’s chief data officer, said DOGE staff copied the Numident, with records on more than 300 million Americans, to a cloud environment without independent oversight. In March 2026, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General notified congressional committee leaders of a review of “the potential misuse of SSA data by a former DOGE employee.” On April 10, 2026, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction for lack of irreparable harm without ruling on whether DOGE’s access was lawful. U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ordered discovery, including depositions, on April 14, 2026, and on June 26, 2026, refused to withdraw the order, writing that the government “may have ‘provided patently false information to the district court.’”

    As a New York resident whose Social Security records are maintained by the Social Security Administration, I believe this conduct violates N.Y. Penal Law 190.79 and N.Y. Penal Law 156.10. Identity theft in the second degree covers a person who "knowingly and with intent to defraud assumes the identity of another person by presenting themself as that other person, or by acting as that other person or by using personal identifying information of that other person," and thereby obtains more than $500 in goods, money, property, services or credit or causes that much loss (N.Y. Penal Law 190.79), a class E felony; above $2,000 the offense is identity theft in the first degree, a class D felony (Penal Law 190.80). Computer trespass covers a person who "knowingly uses, causes to be used, or accesses a computer, computer service, or computer network without authorization" and "thereby knowingly gains access to computer material" (Penal Law 156.10), a class E felony. Identity theft may be prosecuted "in the county where the person whose personal identifying information was used in the commission of the offense resided" (Criminal Procedure Law 20.40(4)(l)), and a felony prosecution must begin within five years (Criminal Procedure Law 30.10).

    In Colorado v. Symes, 286 U.S. 510 (1932), the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal officers “are not, merely because they are such, granted immunity from prosecution in state courts for crimes against state law.” The immunity recognized in In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1890), covers acts federal law authorizes that were necessary and proper to the officer’s duty, and the agency has said this conduct was potentially outside agency policy. The plaintiffs in the civil lawsuits seek court orders, and criminal charges require a prosecutor. The president’s pardon power applies only to “Offences against the United States” (U.S. Const. art. II, sec. 2), and in Gamble v. United States, 587 U.S. 678 (2019), the Supreme Court reaffirmed that each state prosecutes crimes under its own law as a separate sovereign. In April 2026, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota charged a federal immigration officer with assault under state law.

    I am asking you to use subpoenas to learn where New York residents’ data went and who used it.

    [If you filed a police report: I reported this to (agency) on (date), report number (number).]

    [Your closing: the reply you want.]

    Respectfully,
    [Full name]
    [Street address]
    [City, state, ZIP]
    [Email or phone]

    Letter 3: the attorney general

    Dear Attorney General [last name]:

    [Your opening.]

    I am asking your office to open a criminal investigation into the conduct described below. The Social Security Administration holds my personal information, including in the agency’s Numident file.

    On Jan. 16, 2026, Justice Department lawyers filed a Notice of Corrections to the Record in AFSCME v. Social Security Administration, No. 1:25-cv-00596 (D. Md.), ECF 197. The Social Security Administration reported that the agency’s former Department of Government Efficiency team, known as DOGE, took actions “potentially outside of SSA policy and/or noncompliant with” a March 20, 2025, court order. From March 7 to March 17, 2025, team members shared data through Cloudflare, a third-party server, and the agency has not been able to determine what was shared. On March 3, 2025, a team member emailed the Department of Homeland Security an encrypted file and copied a senior adviser to the U.S. DOGE Temporary Organization and a DOGE-affiliated Labor Department employee. The agency believes the file held personal information, including names and addresses, of about 1,000 people, and the agency has been unable to open it. A team member signed a “Voter Data Agreement” with a political group seeking “to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States.” On March 24, 2025, four days after the court order, a team member searched personal data in the Numident, the agency’s master file of Social Security numbers. In an Aug. 26, 2025, whistleblower disclosure, Charles Borges, then the agency’s chief data officer, said DOGE staff copied the Numident, with records on more than 300 million Americans, to a cloud environment without independent oversight. In March 2026, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General notified congressional committee leaders of a review of “the potential misuse of SSA data by a former DOGE employee.” On April 10, 2026, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction for lack of irreparable harm without ruling on whether DOGE’s access was lawful. U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ordered discovery, including depositions, on April 14, 2026, and on June 26, 2026, refused to withdraw the order, writing that the government “may have ‘provided patently false information to the district court.’”

    As a New York resident whose Social Security records are maintained by the Social Security Administration, I believe this conduct violates N.Y. Penal Law 190.79 and N.Y. Penal Law 156.10. Identity theft in the second degree covers a person who "knowingly and with intent to defraud assumes the identity of another person by presenting themself as that other person, or by acting as that other person or by using personal identifying information of that other person," and thereby obtains more than $500 in goods, money, property, services or credit or causes that much loss (N.Y. Penal Law 190.79), a class E felony; above $2,000 the offense is identity theft in the first degree, a class D felony (Penal Law 190.80). Computer trespass covers a person who "knowingly uses, causes to be used, or accesses a computer, computer service, or computer network without authorization" and "thereby knowingly gains access to computer material" (Penal Law 156.10), a class E felony. Identity theft may be prosecuted "in the county where the person whose personal identifying information was used in the commission of the offense resided" (Criminal Procedure Law 20.40(4)(l)), and a felony prosecution must begin within five years (Criminal Procedure Law 30.10).

    In Colorado v. Symes, 286 U.S. 510 (1932), the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal officers “are not, merely because they are such, granted immunity from prosecution in state courts for crimes against state law.” The immunity recognized in In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1890), covers acts federal law authorizes that were necessary and proper to the officer’s duty, and the agency has said this conduct was potentially outside agency policy. The plaintiffs in the civil lawsuits seek court orders, and criminal charges require a prosecutor. The president’s pardon power applies only to “Offences against the United States” (U.S. Const. art. II, sec. 2), and in Gamble v. United States, 587 U.S. 678 (2019), the Supreme Court reaffirmed that each state prosecutes crimes under its own law as a separate sovereign. In April 2026, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota charged a federal immigration officer with assault under state law.

    Executive Law 63(2) directs your office, whenever required by the governor, to appear before the grand jury "for the purpose of managing and conducting" the criminal actions the governor specifies, with the powers of a district attorney. I am asking you to act on any such requirement, and to tell me which request your office needs.

    [If you filed a police report: I reported this to (agency) on (date), report number (number).]

    [Your closing: the reply you want.]

    Respectfully,
    [Full name]
    [Street address]
    [City, state, ZIP]
    [Email or phone]

    Letter 4: the governor

    Dear Governor [last name]:

    [Your opening.]

    The Social Security Administration holds my personal information, including in the agency’s Numident file.

    On Jan. 16, 2026, Justice Department lawyers filed a Notice of Corrections to the Record in AFSCME v. Social Security Administration, No. 1:25-cv-00596 (D. Md.), ECF 197. The Social Security Administration reported that the agency’s former Department of Government Efficiency team, known as DOGE, took actions “potentially outside of SSA policy and/or noncompliant with” a March 20, 2025, court order. From March 7 to March 17, 2025, team members shared data through Cloudflare, a third-party server, and the agency has not been able to determine what was shared. On March 3, 2025, a team member emailed the Department of Homeland Security an encrypted file and copied a senior adviser to the U.S. DOGE Temporary Organization and a DOGE-affiliated Labor Department employee. The agency believes the file held personal information, including names and addresses, of about 1,000 people, and the agency has been unable to open it. A team member signed a “Voter Data Agreement” with a political group seeking “to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States.” On March 24, 2025, four days after the court order, a team member searched personal data in the Numident, the agency’s master file of Social Security numbers. In an Aug. 26, 2025, whistleblower disclosure, Charles Borges, then the agency’s chief data officer, said DOGE staff copied the Numident, with records on more than 300 million Americans, to a cloud environment without independent oversight. In March 2026, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General notified congressional committee leaders of a review of “the potential misuse of SSA data by a former DOGE employee.” On April 10, 2026, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction for lack of irreparable harm without ruling on whether DOGE’s access was lawful. U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ordered discovery, including depositions, on April 14, 2026, and on June 26, 2026, refused to withdraw the order, writing that the government “may have ‘provided patently false information to the district court.’”

    In Colorado v. Symes, 286 U.S. 510 (1932), the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal officers “are not, merely because they are such, granted immunity from prosecution in state courts for crimes against state law.” The immunity recognized in In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1890), covers acts federal law authorizes that were necessary and proper to the officer’s duty, and the agency has said this conduct was potentially outside agency policy. The plaintiffs in the civil lawsuits seek court orders, and criminal charges require a prosecutor. The president’s pardon power applies only to “Offences against the United States” (U.S. Const. art. II, sec. 2), and in Gamble v. United States, 587 U.S. 678 (2019), the Supreme Court reaffirmed that each state prosecutes crimes under its own law as a separate sovereign. In April 2026, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota charged a federal immigration officer with assault under state law.

    Under Executive Law 63(2), the attorney general manages and conducts criminal actions before a grand jury whenever required by the governor. I am asking you to require the attorney general to open a criminal investigation into this conduct.

    [Your closing: the reply you want.]

    Respectfully,
    [Full name]
    [Street address]
    [City, state, ZIP]
    [Email or phone]

    What officials in New York said back

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    Sources

    Change log

    • Feb. 16, 2026, version 1: First set posted as a comment on the Feb. 16, 2026, article. Original
    • Sept. 29, 2026, version 2: Set rebuilt from the state’s own statutes, with every quotation checked against the official text or a published copy of the code.

    These letters are activist material published by The Existentialist Republic. They are not legal advice, and The Existentialist Republic does not act as legal counsel for anyone who files. Each reader decides whether and when to file.

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