President Trump on Wednesday called for Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola to drop out of the race and be criminally prosecuted after it was revealed that her allies were behind an effort to bring a candidate into the race that had the same name as her GOP opponent.
“Mary Peltola should resign from the race. I think she should be prosecuted criminally for what she did,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews ahead of his trip to Ohio to campaign for Republicans there.
He said any of her allies who worked to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan into the race to compete against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan should also face criminal charges.
Top aides of Peltola were behind the recruitment effort, the New York Times reported. She had originally denied any involvement, but Wednesday’s shock report revealed she was “definitely aware” of the scheme.
“They said they didn’t do it, and they did do it, and they got caught. And in fact, it was a plot by the Democrat Party, and frankly, they should be, I think they should be prosecuted. To me, that’s voter fraud at the highest level,” the president said.
The Justice Department is conducting an “aggressive criminal investigation” into Daniel J. Sullivan’s appearance on the ballot, with subpoenas expected to be issued in the coming days, Fox News reported.
Cell phone companies have been told to preserve text messages and emails. The Times cited such material in its timeline on how Daniel J. Sullivan was recruited.
The DOJ probe has been underway for months but took on new intensity after the reporting.
The investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska. Charges could be related to the deprivation of rights of Alaska voters.
Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager, spoke to the New York Times about the plot to bring “Decoy Dan,” as his critics call him, into the race.
“Alaskan voters need to know,” said Rios, who was ousted during a dramatic staff overhaul in August.
“There was a lot of speculation, and voters should get the full picture when making their decisions,” she added, noting that Peltola was not directly involved in the recruitment effort, but “definitely aware.”
Aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) were also involved in the gambit, which was aimed at pulling votes away from Sen. Sullivan through confusion. The DSCC denied involvement.
“The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign,” Peltola’s campaign told The Post in a statement when asked about the report. “Like Mary, our campaign is focused on lowering costs and fixing the rigged system in DC.”
The campaign also pointed The Post to a list of examples of Republican-led spoiler efforts in Democratic races. The Post also contacted reps for “Decoy Dan.”
Alaskan officials sought to minimize confusion by labeling Sen. Sullivan as the incumbent as well as putting the candidates’ initials. Peltola is the only Democrat on the four-person ballot after a successful pressure campaign by Democrats resulted in candidate David Leslie, who ran as a Democrat and originally made the top four, dropping out.
The winner on Nov. 3 will be determined through ranked-choice voting.
Officials with Peltola’s campaign and the DCCC communicated for months about Kurtz’s pursuit, text messages reviewed by the New York Times showed.
Peltola finished first in the open primary held in August and has a 1.2-point edge over Sen. Sullivan in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls.
Before the bombshell report dropped on Wednesday, Republicans were already calling foul in the race.
The Justice Department, at Trump’s direction, filed a lawsuit that demanded the state be blocked from certifying Peltola if she wins — if Daniel J. Sullivan remains on the ballot.
But Alaska state officials filed a motion to dismiss, noting the state’s elections division “has taken significant steps to distinguish” the Sullivans on the ballot so that “voters can easily determine which candidate is which.”
The state’s filing also noted “the United States lacks authority to intervene in state elections at all, much less in support of a favored candidate,” adding “the complaint has no legal basis.”
U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason has ordered the case expedited given the fast-approaching election. She could rule on the motions to dismiss the case as early as Friday night.
