A man identified as Joshua Culver, also known by the alias "Maverick Young," was arrested last week in Colorado on charges of impersonating both the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, and the head of the National Security Agency's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) unit. Culver appeared in a Colorado court on Tuesday following an indictment issued in Indiana in July, which includes four counts of falsely impersonating an officer of the court and one count of using a forged signature of a judge.
The indictment alleges that in September of last year, Culver pretended to be an NSA officer and threatened adverse action against the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office in Lafayette, Indiana. He allegedly demanded information, including the location of his biological daughter, under this false pretense.
Later that same month, Culver is accused of again impersonating an NSA officer. In February, he allegedly produced a document to the Clerk of the Lake County, Indiana Superior Court, purportedly from the head of the TAO unit. This document, which bore official letterhead, falsely claimed to be a directive from the Director of TAO and stated that Culver was a federal asset involved in multiple investigations. The directive demanded specific actions, including the dismissal with prejudice of a case against Culver, the quashing of warrants, and cooperation from Lake County officials with a federal audit of individuals named in the document.
It is noted that while TAO is the unit's historical name, it had been operating as the Office of Computer Network Operations since 2017, though it indicated a return to the TAO name in July. The TAO unit gained significant public attention in 2017 following the global WannaCry ransomware outbreak, which utilized an exploit reportedly developed by the NSA.
In addition to the NSA impersonation, Culver is also accused of using a forged signature of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in September. This forged signature was allegedly used on an "Order of Dismissal With Prejudice" in a case against Culver in Grant County, Indiana. A public defender appointed to Culver has not yet commented on the matter.
