By SUZANNE DOWNING
Marc Elias, the Democratic election lawyer whose firm represents Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola, received a Justice Department target letter in the criminal investigation into how a second Dan Sullivan got on Alaska’s US Senate ballot, the Associated Press reported, citing two people familiar with the inquiry.
Elias Law Group also represents the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Leaders at the firm were among the recipients. The Senate campaign committee separately received a grand jury subpoena.
Marc Elias is also the founder of the voting rights platform Democracy Docket.
A target letter signals that prosecutors consider the recipient a potential defendant. Whether prosecutors will seek charges remains open, and they have yet to publicly specify what crimes they are investigating.
Elias called the investigation politically motivated and accused the Trump administration of using the Justice Department against its political opponents. “We will not be intimidated by a sham investigation,” he said in a statement posted on X.
The inquiry centers on Decoy Dan, Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg whose name appeared on Tuesday’s ballot alongside Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Peltola. Election officials used the candidates’ middle initials to distinguish them and identified Dan S. Sullivan as the incumbent.
The New York Times reported last week that people associated with Peltola’s campaign and senior aides at the Senate campaign committee were involved in an effort to recruit another Dan Sullivan, allegedly to draw votes away from the Republican senator. Peltola’s campaign and the committee deny involvement in getting Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot.
Alaska US Attorney Michael Heyman said Friday that federal authorities had been investigating for months and that the Times reporting brought new information to the inquiry. Gov. Mike Dunleavy separately directed Alaska’s Department of Public Safety to investigate.
The reports about the letters came two days after US District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the Justice Department’s separate civil lawsuit over the Senate ballot. The department had sought to block certification under certain conditions if the incumbent narrowly lost. Gleason ruled that the federal government lacked standing and said setting aside ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan for possible law enforcement follow-up would violate Alaskans’ right to a secret ballot.
The civil ruling left the ballot in place for Election Day, as federal investigators are still examining how the Petersburg candidate came to be on it.
2 thoughts on “Democrat super-lawyer Marc Elias gets DOJ target letter in Alaska Decoy Dan candidacy investigation”
It would be gratifying to see an attorney behind bars. 🦓
When the votes are tallied, the count will show why the decoy was used. Regardless of a win or loss for Peltola, this case of electioneering must be prosecuted.