Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

DOJ Issues Dozens Of Subpoenas In Probe Investigating Dem Senate Nominee’s Ballot Scheme

United States Senate - Office of Dan Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued at least three dozen subpoenas Thursday as part of its investigation into the Alaska Senate race, a source familiar confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The subpoenas were sent to the campaign offices of former Democratic Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola and former schoolteacher Dan J. Sullivan as part of a probe into the Democrats’ alleged ballot scheme. Peltola’s campaign aides and members of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) reportedly coordinated to recruit other Republican candidates to boost Peltola’s chances of beating Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, according to a New York Times review.

The DOJ amended its lawsuit seeking to block the certifications of the results if Sullivan loses to include details from the Times report. The new filing calls the situation a “conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the electoral process.”

Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy directed the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether any crime took place. Alaska’s Department of Public Safety Deputy Commissioner Austin McDaniel said Thursday that the Alaska Bureau of Investigation had begun looking into the matter.

Multiple grand jury subpoenas will be issued in the coming days and preservation orders regarding text messages and emails are being prepared for cell phone companies to help build the case, sources told Fox News Wednesday.

Aides from the DSCC reportedly introduced Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz to former Peltola campaign manager Elisa Rios and former chief of staff Anton McParland. Kurtz reportedly traveled to Alaskan communities to recruit residents to run as Republicans. The other Sullivan, who supported Peltola’s candidacy, agreed to run.

Alaska’s open voting system made this scheme possible, given that candidates can claim any party affiliation on the ballot without being vetted by parties themselves. Republicans backed an effort to help a candite serving time in a New York prison stay on the ballot when Peltola ran for reelection to the House in 2024.

Text messages showed that members of the DSCC and Peltola’s campaign considered creating a MAGA Party, although the plans never came to fruition, according to the Times.

Peltola’s campaign denied any involvement with either Sullivan’s campaigns. She is the only Democrat who will appear on the ballot.

The other Sullivan changed his party affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated Monday, eight days before the general election, according to the Alaska Beacon, a local outlet.

Democratic strategist Amber Lee authored a press release announcing the other Sullivan’s candidacy, metadata reviewed by the DCNF showed. Lee told The Hill in January that she believed there was a good chance Peltola could defeat Sullivan and previously hoped Peltola would run for governor.

Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher informed Sullivan in an Aug. 26 letter that his declaration of candidacy “was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy,” but rather to confuse voters into voting for the wrong Sullivan. After Sullivan appealed the ruling, Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews ruled he could remain on the ballot for the state’s primary.

The Alaska Supreme Court overturned that ruling in a June 30 decision and allowed the other Sullivan to be on the ballot. The DSCC and Peltola’s campaign celebrated the high court’s decision, according to the Times.