(A)Political - October 31st

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Federal prosecutors have widened their Alaska Senate inquiry three days before the election, with new subpoenas and a request to set aside ballots.. The Justice Department has subpoenaed Los Angeles County election workers to testify the morning after Election Day. Qatari mediators moved the Iran talks to Doha as Washington weighs resuming strikes after Tuesday’s election.

• Prosecutors Widen Their Alaska Senate Inquiry Days Before the Election

• Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas at Least Three Los Angeles County Election Workers in Noncitizen Voting Inquiry

• Iran Talks Move To Doha. Gulf Allies Were Told to Expect Strikes the Day After The Midterms

Prosecutors Widen Their Alaska Senate Inquiry Days Before the Election

_{By: Atlas}

Federal prosecutors stepped up their scrutiny of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race this week, issuing new grand jury subpoenas, rewriting a civil suit that seeks to hold up certification and asking a judge to set aside ballots ranking a second candidate named Dan Sullivan. The contest between Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola could help decide which party controls the Senate in January. Election Day is Tuesday.

What the Justice Department is doing

The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the race in July, NBC News has reported. Michael Heyman, the U.S. attorney for Alaska, told reporters in Anchorage on Friday that “there is both a civil investigation and a criminal investigation that is ongoing,” with “a surge of FBI resources.”

A new round of grand jury subpoenas and records-preservation demands went out this week, though the reported counts differ. A source told Reuters on Thursday there were more than 40, with more expected. NBC News, citing a U.S. official, said the total as of Thursday was at least three dozen. Both said recipients included Peltola’s campaign and that of the second candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. None has been made public, and no one has been charged.

At a briefing Thursday, a Justice Department official named two civil rights laws, 18 U.S.C. Sections 241 and 242, as possible grounds for charges, CBS News reported. The official also said the department knew of no confirmed case of an Alaska voter mistakenly choosing the wrong Sullivan. “I think I’ve not heard of that, but it’s hard to tell exactly,” the official said.

The civil suit and its basis

The department sued Oct. 23 in federal court in Anchorage under the National Voter Registration Act. It asks U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason to block certification only if the senator loses and Daniel J. Sullivan’s votes would have changed the outcome, pending an investigation into whether those voters meant to pick the senator. Attorney General Todd Blanche has said the department “does not seek ... to stop the certification of Alaska’s election.”

On Thursday, the department amended the complaint, adding a Supremacy Clause claim and calling Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy “the result of a conspiracy” meant to draw votes from the senator. For its new allegations it relies chiefly on a New York Times report published Wednesday. “Although what the New York Times reports is not always true, its reporting here aligns with what the United States has been alleging on information and belief,” the filing says.

The Times reported that Peltola aides worked with campaign lawyers and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staff to recruit two candidates who could draw votes from the senator, including Daniel J. Sullivan. The paper said it interviewed 12 people and reviewed texts and documents. A central source, former campaign manager Elisa Rios, was fired in August and told the Times that Peltola was aware of the effort. Rios later asked to retract her interviews; the Times said her account was consistent with its other reporting.

The complaint also cites the state Division of Elections’ June finding that Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy was filed “with a purpose to confuse or mislead.” A state judge reversed his disqualification because that good-faith test is not in Alaska law, without ruling on his motives, and the Alaska Supreme Court upheld the reversal.

The state asked Gleason to dismiss the suit “immediately, with prejudice,” calling the department’s approach “gamesmanship” and noting that Alaska’s constitution requires that “secrecy of voting shall be preserved.” Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC argued that “DOJ has no statutory authority to bring this case,” called the department’s claim that they had misled the court “Nonsense” and asked the court to consider sanctions.

How the president and the candidates responded

President Donald Trump has said he ordered the civil suit: “I’m the one that said, ‘Do it.’” On Wednesday, he wrote on Truth Social that Peltola should not “be allowed to run,” calling it “ELECTION FRAUD.”

Peltola told a rally in Juneau on Thursday, “I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.” She added, “I am not interested in tricking voters. I know I can beat Dan Sullivan.” Her campaign has said it “did not recruit any candidates into the race,” and the DSCC said it “is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.” Daniel J. Sullivan has said he entered the race on his own.

Sen. Sullivan told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday that Peltola’s team and the DSCC “spent over a year scheming in a secret operation to trick Alaskans.”

Congress, the governor and the Senate

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, asked Rios and Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz to sit for transcribed interviews Nov. 5 and 6, after the election. The committee said it would weigh “compulsory process” if they decline.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, ordered the state Department of Public Safety to investigate, and the Alaska Bureau of Investigation has opened a case. On NewsNation on Thursday, he said findings “may, in fact, impact whether somebody is seated in the U.S. Senate.” That role is limited: Jeff Feldman, a University of Washington law professor, told Newsweek that “the Governor plays no role in the state certification process,” which state law assigns to the elections director.

Under the Constitution, the Senate judges the elections of its own members, and the Senate Historical Office says the chamber may seat a senator-elect “without prejudice” while it investigates.

The clock and the ballots

In the late-Friday filings, signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and Heyman, the department asked Gleason to order state officials, before Monday, to “preserve and segregate all ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan for the purposes of investigating whether such ranking was the product of voter confusion, should such an investigation become necessary.” It also sought expedited access to internal and external communications of Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC.

The state opposed the request. It said ballots are “comingled in the ballot box on Election Day” and cannot be separated without violating ballot secrecy, and that “the ballots (whether segregated or not) will not reveal any voter’s reasons for voting for Daniel J.” Alaska already keeps federal election ballots for 22 months after an election.

Gleason has kept the case on a fast schedule. The department’s response to the dismissal motions was due at 4 p.m. CT Friday, and it filed one, saying the only immediate relief it seeks is preserving and segregating ballots. Replies from the state, Peltola’s campaign and the voter groups are due at 3 p.m. CT today.

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