Sidney Powell released the Kraken. And it turns out the mythological sea beast can’t spell, is terrible at geography and keeps mislabeling plaintiffs in court.
A congressional candidate Powell claimed to represent in one lawsuit said that, in fact, he had nothing to do with Powell or her quixotic effort, which she dubbed “the Kraken,” arguing the election was stolen from President Donald Trump. An expert witness cited in another suit named a nonexistent county in Michigan. A Wisconsin lawsuit sought data on alleged irregularities at a voting center in Detroit, which is in Michigan. And a filing in federal district court signed by Powell misspelled “district” twice in the first few lines.
The sloppy mistakes aren’t just a sideshow, despite Powell’s quip on Twitter when a POLITICO reporter took note of the mangled words: “No extra charge for typos.” Judges also have been flummoxed by the procedural moves and errors committed by Powell, who was booted from Trump’s legal team in November but still is crusading to overturn the election results.
“While the caption of the motion includes the word ‘emergency’ and the attached proposed order seeks an ‘expedited’ injunction, neither the motion nor the proposed order indicate whether the plaintiffs are asking the court to act more quickly or why,” Pamela Pepper, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, wrote in an order issued on Wednesday. “As indicated, the motion does not request a hearing. It does not propose a briefing schedule.”
Yet despite the deficiencies of her legal efforts, Powell’s mythology has gained traction with a slice of the MAGA orbit, from well-known Trump allies like former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a Powell client who last week won a presidential pardon, to hundreds of attendees at a Wednesday rally Powell and fellow Trump-supporting lawyer Lin Wood held in Georgia. They solicited donations and urged Republicans to withhold their votes from the GOP senators engaged in January runoffs in the state, saying they have been insufficiently supportive of Trump, whom both senators back.