On the day Americans are casting their ballots in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump’s Justice Department has turned its sights on the lawyer Democrats depend on most to protect the vote.
The department has sent letters to about 20 Democrats informing them that they may be targets of a criminal investigation into the Alaska Senate race, The New York Times reported Tuesday afternoon. Among the intended recipients is Marc Elias, the prominent Democratic elections attorney whose firm has represented Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola, along with at least one official at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. NBC News, CBS News and ABC News have also reported that Elias is a target.
What the investigation is about
The probe centers on how a second candidate named Dan Sullivan, a retired teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan, ended up on the ballot in the race between Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Peltola. The investigation picked up speed after a late-October New York Times report on alleged efforts by Democrats and some people tied to Peltola’s campaign to recruit him.
According to The Times, the department is investigating possible donor fraud and conspiracy charges. ABC News reported that prosecutors are in the process of issuing more than 100 subpoenas, and CBS News reported that the DSCC has separately received a grand jury subpoena.
Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC have denied any connection to the effort to put Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot. Democrats say that recruiting candidates, a tactic known as ballot stacking, is a common campaign practice that is not clearly illegal under state law. CBS News noted that such tactics have been used by members of both parties in the past.
It’s important to note that receiving a target letter does not mean a person has been charged with a crime, and it does not necessarily mean they will be.
“We will not be intimidated”
Elias fired back in a statement.
“No one should be surprised that President Trump’s Department of Justice is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day,” he said. “This administration has repeatedly weaponized the DOJ against the President’s political enemies despite zero evidence of wrongdoing, and we are the latest targets. We will not be intimidated by a sham investigation.”
He added that his team will “keep working around the clock to support our clients and make sure President Trump and his party enjoy a well-deserved beating at the ballot box.”
Elias and his lawyers have been involved in more than 90 voting and election lawsuits, according to CBS News, including many challenges to the Justice Department’s efforts to obtain unredacted voter rolls.
Trump said he “should go to jail”
Just hours before the letters came to light, Trump attacked Elias by name during an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
“You had the Democrat Party headed up by Elias, their lawyer, who was a bad guy, very bad guy — should go to jail, in my opinion,” Trump said.
CBS News reported that the timing of the letters and subpoenas, sent in recent days, appears to run afoul of the Justice Department’s own internal guidelines and long-standing norms that limit investigative steps ahead of a national election. The Times called sending such notifications at the decisive moment of a close race “highly unusual.” CBS also reported that some assistant U.S. attorneys in Alaska declined or expressed discomfort about getting involved in the probe.
A court already rejected the DOJ in Alaska
The criminal probe runs alongside a civil fight the administration has been losing. On Sunday, a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit that sought to delay certification of Alaska’s Senate election if Sen. Sullivan loses by a margin that could be blamed on voter confusion. Judge Sharon Gleason wrote that the requests involved “the time, place, and manner of Alaska’s election, which are the responsibilities of the State, not the executive branch of the federal government.” The department is appealing.
The letters are the latest in a string of Election Day clashes between the administration and Democrats over how the vote is run, as the Justice Department deploys roughly 1,000 election monitors across the country and courts have repeatedly blocked its efforts to pressure state election officials.
For now, polls are still open. And the man Trump says “should go to jail” says he isn’t backing down.