Washington steps up investigation into Alaska Senate race
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Business Day (South Africa) and Sowetan
Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up criminal and civil investigations into suspicions that a spoiler candidate was recruited in the Alaska Senate race. US Attorney Michael Heyman announced a boost in FBI resources and the assignment of several prosecutors, while the Justice Department is seeking to preserve ballots and obtain campaign documents, according to Business Day and Sowetan. Trump called the case election fraud “at the highest level”.
Alaska’s US Attorney, Michael Heyman, announced on Friday an “influx” of FBI resources and the assignment of several prosecutors to the investigation into an alleged effort to recruit a spoiler candidate in the Senate race. The criminal and civil investigations are moving “intensely and quickly”, he said at a press conference, according to Business Day and Sowetan.
The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to ensure the preservation of ballots that could be affected by voter confusion and to help it obtain documents from the Democratic campaign, to determine whether Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.’s candidacy is “frivolous or fraudulent”. It has also filed a lawsuit against Alaska to preventively block certification of the results if Republican Dan S. Sullivan loses because of the presence of the third candidate, according to the two media outlets. The department is also seeking to prevent the counting of certain ballots in California, Sowetan reports.
Donald Trump said he had ordered the lawsuit against Alaska and described the matter as election fraud “at the highest level”. Heyman declined to specify which offences were under investigation. Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, whom Trump called for prosecutors to pursue, denies knowing that an effort to recruit the second Sullivan was under way; the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the candidate have also denied any involvement or coordination, Sowetan reports.
The Alaska race could affect control of the Senate, which Republicans hold by a narrow margin. Election officials are preparing for further disruption linked to the Trump administration’s lawsuits against about 30 states over voter registration lists, according to Sowetan. Despite the uncertainty, 49 million Americans have already voted early, a record for a midterm election, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
