Justice Department Sends Target Letters to Democrats in Alaska Senate Probe
The U.S. Justice Department has sent letters to Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias and other Democrats telling them they could be targets of a federal investigation, according to The Guardian. The probe concerns an effort to put a man with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan on Alaska's ballot. News of the letters surfaced on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
A target letter is a notice that prosecutors consider a person a possible subject of a criminal case. CNN reported that the department sent such letters to more than a dozen people aligned with the Democratic Party, and that lawmakers were among the recipients. Alaska Public Media described the letters as part of an escalating criminal probe.
A federal grand jury in Alaska, a panel of citizens that hears evidence to decide whether charges should be brought, is investigating potential conspiracy and donor fraud in connection with the ballot effort. The alleged scheme centres on Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher who appears on the ballot without a party affiliation. According to the investigation as described in reporting, allies of Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate in the race, recruited him to confuse voters. The alleged aim was to draw votes away from the incumbent, Dan Sullivan, a two-term Republican senator.
Peltola and her campaign have denied any involvement in the effort. The New York Times reported that lawyers for the Peltola campaign and for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party's fundraising arm for Senate races, were involved in the effort. Elias's firm has represented Peltola. Elias said the Justice Department had "zero evidence of wrongdoing," and accused the Trump administration of using the department against political opponents.
The case has an earlier thread. President Trump said he had ordered the Justice Department to file a lawsuit related to the Alaska Senate race, and the department later sought to block certification of the state's Senate results if Republicans lost. Certification is the official confirmation of an election result. On Sunday, Nov. 1, a federal judge threw out the lawsuit seeking to stop Alaska from certifying its result, according to Reuters. Dan Sullivan said he would accept the election results after the Justice Department's intervention.
