The former “Military Intelligence expert” Kracken and former member of the Elite Strike Force Team of legal Jeeeeenyuses Sidney Powell claimed was so super-secret she would only refer to only by the codename “Spyder” in court documents has been identified, and his credentials v very impressive.
Powell’s super-secret expert, “Spyder,” was supposed to have indisputable evidence that election agencies’ computers in four states had been compromised by bad actors in Iran and China. His training in military intelligence was the linchpin to proving that now-lame duck president Donald John Trump had *actually* won reelection to a second term.
It turns out, however, that “Spyder” is actually 43-year-old Joshua Merritt of Texas, according to the Washington Post. And while he in the Army, his job classification was as a “wheeled vehicle mechanic” not a super-secret analyst.
Merritt did try to get into an intelligence unit, the 305th Military Intelligence Battalion, but he repeatedly washed out of entry-level training courses. He spent just seven months with the unit before reassigned.
“He kept washing out of courses,” said Meredith Mingledorff, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, citing his education records. “He’s not an intelligence analyst.”
Merritt, an IT consultant in the Dallas area now, served in security and route clearance during tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was discharged from the Army in 2013. He has admitted that he is the person cited as a “Military Intelligence expert” in Powell’s filings.
Powell claimed Merritt was an “electronic intelligence analyst under 305th Military Intelligence” in court documents. Merritt attributes the wrong title to a clerk in Powell’s office making a mistake.
Powell, however, isn’t backing down. When contacted by the Washington Post to confirm details of the Merritt’s background, Powell texted back, “I cannot confirm that Joshua Merritt is even Spider. Strongly encourage you not to print.”
All four of Powell’s lawsuits which relied, in part, on “analysis” by Merritt have been dismissed by judges who have found the cases lack credibility and substance.
Merritt said that because judges are dismissing the cases, Powell and he will take their evidence to other outlets, such as national security agencies and lawmakers. He said another person on Powell’s witness list, Russell Ramsland, asked him to brief noted Republican House intellectual Louie Gohmert in the coming days.