The Trump administration is sending additional federal law enforcement resources to Alaska following what officials called “troubling new revelations” about an alleged Democratic effort to divert votes from incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in the midterm election.
The criminal investigation into the purported “Decoy Dan” campaign has been underway for “several months.” But Alaska’s top federal prosecutor said Friday that the Justice Department is expanding the probe after a New York Times report alleged ties to former Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“This new information has resulted in a significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska,” Michael Heyman, the US attorney for the District of Alaska, told reporters at a press conference in Anchorage.
“As we speak, law enforcement around the country are taking investigative steps with respect to the criminal investigation,” he said. Heyman declined to provide details, citing the ongoing nature of the inquiry.
Heyman said multiple attorneys from his office had also been assigned to the case and that authorities were treating the allegations in the New York Times report “extremely seriously.”
“We are acting on it intensely and swiftly,” he said.
Fox News reported earlier this week that the Justice Department issued at least 30 subpoenas within 24 hours of the new allegations emerging.
“Every Alaskan deserves a fair election and they’re going to get one,” Heyman said. He warned that “anyone who tries to illegally deceive voters and interfere with the election will answer for it.”
Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager, and other sources told The New York Times that campaign staffers had been directed to look for people named “Dan Sullivan” who might enter the Senate race. The alleged goal was to confuse voters seeking to support the incumbent senator.
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Rios said Peltola, a former congresswoman, did not personally take part in recruiting a potential challenger but was “definitely aware” of the effort.
In her first public comments on the controversy, Peltola told Alaskans that she “knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.”
“I am not interested in tricking voters,” she said at a campaign event Thursday.
President Trump urged Peltola to leave the race and face criminal prosecution after the report was published.
Heyman said the criminal inquiry is proceeding alongside a separate civil investigation into the alleged scheme.
Before The New York Times report was published, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking to delay certification of Alaska’s Senate election results.
“The department is not asking the court to declare a winner or loser or change the votes in any way,” Heyman said of the lawsuit. “It’s simply to preserve those ballots.”
He said the Justice Department plans to ask the judge overseeing the case for expedited discovery by Monday.
Heyman also disclosed that he had been recused from the investigation until recently because the White House had been considering him for a judicial nomination.
“The White House has nominated someone else for that position and so, therefore, the facts and circumstances have changed, and they have decided to rescind … that recusal,” he said.