DOJ issues subpoenas in Alaska Senate race: Reports

The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued dozens of subpoenas in connection with the ballot-stacking allegations against Alaska’s Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign was directly involved in recruiting someone with the same name as her opponent , Sen. Dan Sullivan (R). The presence of a candidate named Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot prompted the DOJ earlier to file a lawsuit that claimed it gives an unfair advantage to the Alaska Democrat.

The latest subpoenas by the DOJ were sent to Peltola’s Senate campaign offices as well as the offices of Dan J. Sullivan, NBC News reported , citing a U.S. official. The Times also reported about the subpoenas, citing officials familiar with the investigation.

This 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.”

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also launched an investigation into the Democratic lawmaker.

President Trump, in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, said the Alaska Democrat should face legal and political consequences.

“It has just been determined that the Democrats in Alaska illegally searched for, and recruited, a man named Dan Sullivan to run against our distinguished Republican Senator, Dan Sullivan, in order to defraud, confuse, and obfuscate the Election, thereby taking votes away from the REAL Senator, Dan Sullivan,” the president wrote.

Peltola, on Thursday, denied any knowledge of the alleged ballot-stacking scheme, saying she “knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.”

Her campaign has also denied any involvement in the matter.