Feds ‘intensely’ probing alleged Alaska ballot scheme, US attorney confirms

Federal authorities are investigating whether Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign’s reported effort to recruit a candidate in the Alaska Senate race with the same name as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) violated the law, the state’s top federal prosecutor announced Friday.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska Michael Heyman said during a press conference that the investigation has been in the works for several months but that federal authorities are looking into the matter “intensely and swiftly” after “troubling new revelations” were reported by The New York Times this week.

The outlet reported Wednesday that Democratic operatives and Peltola’s campaign were involved in an effort to recruit a second Dan Sullivan to run in the state’s Senate race.

“This new information has resulted in a significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska, and I have assigned several attorneys in my office to assist in the matter as well,” Heyman said.

While the U.S. attorney would not disclose which potential crimes his office was looking into or whom it was targeting in the investigation, he emphasized a commitment to election security.

“What I can tell Alaskans is that we will not let anyone or any group undermine this election,” Heyman said.

Peltola, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the incumbent senator’s GOP challenger , Dan J. Sullivan, have all denied any involvement in the reported effort to recruit spoiler candidates for the race.

“I just want to clear the air: I knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent,” Peltola said during a Thursday evening speech in Juneau, Alaska. “That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters.”

This week, President Trump called for both Peltola and the spoiler candidate to be removed from the ballot and prosecuted . Additionally, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) on Wednesday ordered an investigation into Peltola over the Times’s reporting.

“Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support,” the Republican governor wrote on social media . “Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections.”

On Friday, Heyman urged anyone with knowledge about the “Dan Sullivan issue” or other potential election integrity violations to contact federal authorities.

“Within the last 24 hours or so, we have received a number of new pieces of information that we’re following up on,” he said. “Anybody with additional information should contact the FBI as soon as possible.”