Trump Wants Both Peltola and the Other Dan Sullivan Off Alaska's Ballot

Alaska's Senate race already had one Dan Sullivan. According to a New York Times investigation published Wednesday, as relayed by other outlets, Democratic operatives went looking for another. The Peltola campaign denies any involvement. President Trump has seized on the report and is demanding that two names come off the ballot ahead of the midterm: Democrat Mary Peltola and the second Dan Sullivan.

In two posts on Truth Social on Oct. 28, as described by Breitbart and The Daily Wire, the president alleged that Alaska Democrats illegally recruited a man with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, then lied about it under oath in federal court. We could not view the posts directly, so their wording here comes from those outlets. He wants the senator to face voters with neither Peltola nor the man he called "FAKE Dan Sullivan" on the ballot.

What the Times Reported

The New York Times investigation, as described by the outlets covering it, rests on interviews, text messages and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the Peltola campaign. According to the Times, as relayed by those outlets, the effort was internally called the "ballot composition project."

According to Breitbart News, which summarized the Times report, the months-long effort involved Peltola campaign lawyers and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The Times reportedly described quiet trips to remote Alaska communities, a Midwestern operative using a fake name who pitched prospective candidates in brew pubs, talk of forming a new political party to draw conservatives onto the ballot, and the recruitment of other spoiler candidates meant to thin out the incumbent's support. The second Sullivan is named Daniel J. Sullivan.

We have not reviewed the Times piece directly, and the details here come from how other outlets characterized it. They are the Times' claims, not findings we have verified.

Trump Calls It Perjury

The president went further than the newspaper. He said that because false statements were made under oath in federal court, Democrats had perjured themselves, and he called the scheme election fraud.

"Mary Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done, A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC."

According to Breitbart, a second post said Democrats "found a man named Dan Sullivan, put him on the Ballot, then lied to the Court." Breitbart's text of that post is garbled on the question of whether Peltola should be allowed to run, so we are not characterizing that part of it.

Those are the president's allegations. Neither outlet cites a charge, a ruling or a legal analysis, and neither identified the federal case in which the sworn statements were supposedly made, who gave them, or what was said. It is also unclear whether any election official has the authority to strike candidates from a ballot this late, or whether ballots have already been printed and mailed.

Peltola Denies It, Republicans Pile On

Peltola's campaign, Alaskans for Mary, told The Daily Wire through an unnamed spokesman that it had no involvement with either Sullivan campaign. The campaign turned the charge around, accusing Republicans of propping up third-party spoilers ever since the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision.

Republicans were not persuaded. Sullivan campaign spokesman Nate Adams said Peltola, her campaign and senior advisors colluded with the DSCC, national Democratic lawyers and Alaska operatives, and repeatedly lied. "Alaskans deserve the truth," he said. Sen. Tim Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Alaskans will leave Peltola unranked on the ballot. Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska cited concerns about coordination with super PACs, spending for a campaign that had not yet launched, falsified identities and lies to the press, calling the episode "everything Americans rightly hate about politics."

Missing from the coverage so far: any response from the DSCC, from Daniel J. Sullivan, or from a neutral legal expert on whether any of this crosses a criminal line. Both outlets that reported the president's posts lean right and relied largely on Republican voices.

What Comes Next

The midterm is close, though the sources do not state the date of Election Day, which leaves little room for courtrooms to act. The Daily Wire also linked a story we have not read that carries a headline about the Justice Department and certification of the Alaska race; we cannot say what it reports. The questions to watch are whether anyone files a motion to remove candidates, how the Alaska Division of Elections responds, and whether the Democrats named in the Times report answer for themselves before voters do.