Alaska Senate race heats up as DOJ issues dozens of subpoenas amid Dem nominee’s denial
WASHINGTON, DC: Amid rising allegations of election fraud attempts by Democrat Alaska Senate nominee Mary Peltola, the Department of Justice has issued dozens of subpoenas against Peltola in connection with the ballot-stacking allegations.
The development follows an investigative report alleging that Democratic campaign operatives secretly recruited a so-called “spoiler” candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., whose name resembles that of the incumbent GOP Senator Dan Sullivan.
DOJ issues several subpoenas in Alaska Senate race
The Justice Department has issued at least three dozen subpoenas and document-preservation requests as part of its investigation into the Alaska Senate race.
The subpoenas were sent to Peltola’s campaign offices as well as those of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who is also running for the Senate.
Separately, the DOJ has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Alaska from certifying the election results under certain circumstances if incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses the race.
NBC reported the latest development, citing a US official.
The move comes after Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) ordered an investigation into whether Peltola’s campaign violated state law in the alleged scheme.
“Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support,” the governor wrote in a social media post.
“Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections.”
Peltola denies knowing about second Dan Sullivan
Mary Peltola (D) on Thursday, Oct 29 again denied knowing anything about her campaign’s alleged effort to recruit Dan J. Sullivan to challenge her GOP opponent, incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R), in an attempt to take votes away from him.
“I just want to clear the air,” Peltola said during a speech in Juneau, Alaska, The Associated Press reported.
“I knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.”
She added, “That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters.”
House Oversight Committee launches probe into Peltola
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky) launched an investigation Thursday into allegations that Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign was involved in an effort to recruit a candidate with a name similar to that of Sen. Dan Sullivan to divert votes from the Republican incumbent.
Comer sent letters to Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager, and Jerid Kurtz, a Democratic operative whom The New York Times also reported was involved in the alleged scheme, asking them to appear for in-person interviews.
He asked Rios to testify on November 5 and Kurtz on November 6.
In a statement, Comer accused Democrats of attempting to manipulate the Alaska Senate race.
“Democrats are the party of fraud. Knowing they can’t win on the issues, Democrats schemed to rig the US Senate election in Alaska by deliberately confusing voters. This is part of a broader pattern of misconduct by today’s Democratic Party,” he said.
