Justice Department reportedly issued new grand jury subpoenas
Some donors told The Associated Press that FBI agents contacted them and asked whether they had been misled about which candidate they supported. The outreach came as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation into retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan’s presence on the Alaska ballot. A person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press said the department issued a raft of new grand jury subpoenas on Thursday.
The Nov. 3 ranked-choice election pits Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, an ally of President Donald Trump, against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, in one of the nation’s most closely watched races. The race is among a handful expected to determine which party controls the Senate for the final two years of Trump’s term. Two candidates who have done little campaigning also appear on the ballot; one shares the incumbent’s name. The Associated Press reported that Trump pushed for the lawsuit out of fear that the other Sullivan would siphon votes from the incumbent.
On Sunday, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan lost. Filed less than two weeks before the election and while early voting was underway, the suit called for an investigation into whether votes for retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan were intended for the senator. The state said the case lacked merit and argued there would be no way to make that determination without violating voter privacy.
Gleason said the relief the federal government sought was “infeasible” because many voters had already cast their ballots. She also wrote: “More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified ‘investigation’ of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy.”
Attorneys for the Alaska Department of Law represented state election officials and asked Gleason, whom former Democratic President Barack Obama appointed, to dismiss the case. Their response called the complaint “meritless,” and the attorneys did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Gleason also wrote that the Trump administration’s attempt to block certification ran counter to the Constitution, which gives states authority to run elections. She cited the Supreme Court’s Purcell principle, under which federal courts generally should not change election rules too close to an election.
Shortly after the ruling, the Justice Department filed a notice that it would appeal. A department spokesperson said, “Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes.” In its statement indicating its plans to appeal, the Justice Department said Gleason dismissed the case on procedural grounds but did not dispute the government’s argument that Dan J. Sullivan entered the race “as a frivolous candidate to confuse voters.”
Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP, which had filed a brief supporting the case’s dismissal, called the decision “a big win for the voters in Alaska.” She added, “The law is clear, and the DOJ’s case was a baseless, eleventh-hour attempt to hijack this midterm election.”
Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee argued that the case lacked any legal basis and amounted to election interference. Devan Barber, the committee’s executive director, said, “Today’s ruling is a victory for democracy and a clear message to Donald Trump and Senate Republicans: No one, no matter how powerful, can toss out free and fair elections just because they don’t like the result.” In a separate statement, Peltola’s campaign said, “No sham investigation or baseless lawsuit from a weaponized Department of Justice is going to stop Alaskans from electing Mary on Nov. 3 so she can lower costs for Alaska’s working families.” The statement alluded to a federal probe disclosed after President Donald Trump said the previous week that he wanted Peltola prosecuted for the scheme.
State courts, including the Alaska Supreme Court, had rejected an earlier Republican-backed effort to keep Dan J. Sullivan off the August open primary ballot. He appeared as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party affiliation, while the senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent. Both Sullivans appear the same way on the general election ballot. Peltola placed first in the primary, followed by the senator, while Dan J. Sullivan received about 2.5% of the vote, enough to finish within the top four and qualify for the Nov. 3 ranked-choice election.
Alaska said it had taken “significant steps” to distinguish the two Sullivans on the ballot. Voters who might still be confused could ask for help or look up candidate biographies and other information in state-distributed election pamphlets. The Associated Press reported that Republicans, including some working with Trump, have a long history of backing decoy candidates in elections. The Republican governor ordered an investigation and suggested he might not certify a possible Peltola victory.
In the week before Election Day, The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign had been involved in efforts to recruit the second Sullivan. Shortly after entering the race in June, Dan J. Sullivan said he had had no contact with Peltola’s campaign about running, and he had not responded to multiple messages over the preceding days. Peltola’s campaign responded to the Times report by saying it had no involvement in the campaigns for either Sullivan. “I am not interested in tricking voters,” Peltola said during a recent campaign event.
The senator and his allies, including Trump, had for months portrayed Dan J. Sullivan as a sham candidate intent on confusing voters and helping Peltola. Earlier Sunday, Sen. Sullivan told CNN that he thought the presence of the second Sullivan would affect the election. “I’m sure I’m going to lose a lot of votes to that trickery,” he said. Sullivan also said he doubted Peltola’s claims that she had no idea her top political aides were involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to run as a way to confuse voters. “There is no way this went on for a year that they weren’t informing her,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added: “She got caught lying, and she’s still lying to the Alaskan people, the media, to all of us.”
Dan J. Sullivan’s recent public absence prompted a social media post Sunday by President Trump: “The Fake Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., has DISAPPEARED! Nobody can find him, including Law Enforcement.”
The Nov. 3 election remains scheduled while the Justice Department’s appeal and the criminal and state investigations continue. The reporting leaves Dan J. Sullivan’s recruitment and the intent attributed to his candidacy unresolved.