The Justice Department has sent letters to Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias and others telling them they are targets of its criminal investigation into how a second "Dan Sullivan" ended up on Alaska's U.S. Senate ballot, according to The Gateway Pundit.
The probe centers on whether operatives for Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola helped recruit independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan, who shares a name with Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, to confuse voters. Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg, is on the ballot.
About 20 target and preservation letters have been issued so far, CBS News reported, citing a law enforcement official and a second source. NBC News reported that the tally includes both target letters and requests to third parties to preserve records, so not every recipient is a target.
The New York Times reported that roughly 20 Democrats were designated to receive notices, including at least one official at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The DSCC has also received a grand jury subpoena, according to CBS News.
Under Justice Department guidelines, a target is someone prosecutors believe there is substantial evidence linking to a crime. Receiving one does not mean a person has been charged with a crime, and no one has been charged in the case.
The investigation is being led by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alaska, with prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division's criminal section. The Times reported that investigators are examining possible donor fraud and conspiracy charges.
"No one should be surprised that President Trump's Department is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day," Elias said in a statement to CBS News. "This administration has repeatedly weaponized the DOJ against the President's political enemies despite zero evidence of wrongdoing, and we are the latest targets."
Elias Law Group represents both the Peltola campaign and the DSCC. "We will not be intimidated by a sham investigation," Elias wrote in a separate statement, according to The Center Square.
Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to confirm the letters when asked on Fox News but defended the investigation, the Washington Examiner reported. Reports indicate the department has issued about 120 subpoenas in the probe.
The case grew out of a New York Times investigation describing a "mysterious Midwestern operative" who used a fake name and pitched would-be candidates "over beers at brew pubs." In a separate case, a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan, ruling it would violate Alaskans' right to a secret ballot.
Login