The FBI has begun contacting donors to Dan Sullivan, asking whether they may have been misled as federal authorities intensify a criminal investigation into the Alaska Senate candidate who shares a name with the Republican incumbent.
Agents have spoken with donors in at least two remote Alaska communities, as well as with others in Massachusetts.
An FBI agent based in Anchorage visited a boat dealership in Petersburg, a small fishing town accessible only by air or water and the community where the candidate lives.
The agent left a business card for Charles Flint. Flint told The Associated Press that he has known Dan Sullivan for years and regards him as a respected teacher and musician.
The FBI outreach followed federal confirmation that the candidate is the subject of a criminal investigation. On Friday, the US Department of Justice also asked a court to segregate certain Alaska ballots while authorities examine possible voter confusion.
Flint donated $500 during the summer to what he viewed as a long-shot campaign. He said he understood Dan Sullivan would face campaign expenses and admired him for “throwing his hat in the ring.”
Flint said the FBI agent asked his son, who works at the dealership, whether Flint believed he had been “misled” about the candidate he was supporting.
“I don’t feel like I’ve been misled at all,” Flint, who has been out of town, told the AP by telephone. He added that he did not plan to call the agent, saying he would “let him waste his time trying to track me down.”
“I don’t think there’s any confusion,” Flint said. He added that he plans to rank Democrat Mary Peltola first on his ballot and Dan Sullivan second. “Everybody knows who the incumbent is.”
President Trump was asked about the investigation Saturday night at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He described it as “voter fraud at the highest level.”
Trump also suggested that Dan Sullivan had gone into hiding. “Nobody can find him now, so he knows he’s guilty,” the president said.
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Without offering details, Trump further suggested that senior Democratic leaders outside Alaska might have been involved and should face prosecution.
Alaska US Attorney Michael Heyman told reporters in Anchorage that the federal investigation had been underway for several months. However, recent reporting by The New York Times indicated that Peltola’s campaign appeared to have played a role in recruiting retired teacher Dan Sullivan, prompting a “significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska,” Heyman said.
Two FBI agents were also sent to Sitka, where they conducted a brief doorstep interview with another donor.
The donor, who requested anonymity because the investigation remains active, said the agents asked whether the contribution had gone to the Dan Sullivan the donor intended to support.
The conversation lasted approximately five minutes, the donor told the AP.
The donor described the agents as “scrupulously polite” and said they made clear that participation in the conversation was voluntary.
Another donor, Pat Campbell of Groton, Massachusetts, said two FBI agents arrived at her home Friday and spoke with her husband.
“They said they were from the FBI and investigating fraud in election contributions,” Campbell wrote in a text message to the AP. “No, we had not been defrauded. We knew to whom we had contributed.”
The latest developments come just days before Tuesday’s ranked-choice general election, setting the stage for a potentially pivotal contest between Peltola, a former congresswoman, and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
At a campaign rally in Anchorage on Friday, Peltola again denied involvement in any plan to place candidates on the ballot to detract from the incumbent senator.
She said she was “deeply offended†by the allegations, which she called “garbage†and part of a “smear campaign†to suppress turnout on the eve of the election.
“I know I can beat Dan Sullivan. I do not need any help winning this race,†she told a small group of campaign volunteers at an Anchorage aviation museum.