FBI begins asking donors to Alaska Senate candidate about potential deception

Justice Department seeks court order to isolate ballots over voter confusion

The FBI on Friday began reaching out to donors of Dan J. Sullivan, the Alaska Senate candidate who shares a name with the Republican incumbent, asking about potential deception as federal authorities ramped up their investigation days before Tuesday’s election.

An Anchorage-based FBI agent visited a boat dealership in Petersburg, a small fishing community accessible only by air or water where the candidate lives. The agent left a business card for Charles Flint, who told The Associated Press he has known Dan J. Sullivan for years as a respected teacher and musician.

The FBI visit came after federal officials confirmed the existence of a criminal probe into the candidate. The Justice Department also pushed Friday for a court order to isolate certain Alaska ballots to investigate potential voter confusion.

Flint said he contributed $500 over the summer to what he considered a long-shot campaign, saying he knew Dan J. Sullivan would have expenses and respected him for “throwing his hat in the ring.”

Flint said the FBI agent asked his son, who works at the dealership, whether Flint felt he had been “misled” about which candidate he was supporting.

“I don’t feel like I’ve been misled at all,” Flint said in a telephone interview, adding that he had been out of town, had no intention of calling the agent, and would “let him waste his time trying to track me down.”

“I don’t think there’s any confusion,” he said, adding that he intends to rank Democrat Mary Peltola first on his ballot, followed by Dan J. Sullivan. “Everybody knows who the incumbent is.”

Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman told reporters in Anchorage that the federal investigation has been ongoing for several months, but that recent revelations from The New York Times — that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher — have resulted in a “significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska.”

The developments come just days before Tuesday’s ranked choice general election in a potentially pivotal race in which Peltola, a former congresswoman, is challenging Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

At a campaign rally in Anchorage on Friday, Peltola again denied any involvement in any plan to place candidates on the ballot to detract from the incumbent senator. She said she was “deeply offended” by the allegations, which she called “garbage” and part of a “smear campaign” to suppress turnout on the eve of the election.

“I know I can beat Dan Sullivan. I do not need any help winning this race,” she told a small group of campaign volunteers at an Anchorage aviation museum.