DOJ seeks ‘expedited discovery’ in Alaska lawsuit after Peltola NYT report

The Department of Justice on Wednesday revealed it is shaking up its strategy to target Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign in Alaska after her former campaign manager accused the candidate’s team of plotting to confuse the voters in one of the tightest races nationwide.The DOJ is reversing its opposition to the Peltola campaign’s request to intervene in the agency’s lawsuit against the Democrat, instead pressing it to reveal further details about the timing of the request. The department is pressing the campaign on whether its effort to swiftly dismiss the DOJ’s lawsuit was planned because it knew in advance about a possibly damning media report alleging the candidate’s team collaborated with Democratic operatives to rig the race against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), the Republican incumbent battling Peltola.The New York Times published a report earlier Wednesday saying the Peltola campaign coordinated with Democratic operatives to recruit a second Dan Sullivan to be on the Senate ballot to deliberately confuse voters. The outlet cited as a key source, Elisa Rios, who was Peltola’s campaign manager until August. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and other Democratic operatives coordinated with Rios and Peltola’s then-chief of staff, Anton McParland, to carry out the scheme, Rios said during interviews she later attempted to retract before publication. The DOJ had filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block the results of the Alaska Senate election come November if it was found to be tainted by “voter confusion.” The Peltola campaign swiftly asked to intervene in the case, which would allow them to request that U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismiss the DOJ’s lawsuit. Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC requested Gleason expedite consideration of the issue, with the judge saying she would rule on the motion by Wednesday afternoon.The DOJ initially opposed Peltola’s motion to intervene, but reversed its opposition to the move after the New York Times report, citing questions about the timing of the campaign’s move in a court filing Wednesday evening.“The United States intends to seek expedited discovery from the Campaign regarding the reported conspiracy, including as to whether the Campaign attempted to deceive the Court by seeking an expedited ruling on a motion to dismiss when the Campaign may have been aware of the New York Times reporting before it was published,” the filings said.The second Dan Sullivan is running against Peltola and Sen. Dan Sullivan. He is a retired teacher from Petersburg who has denied being connected to the Peltola campaign. The candidate calls himself a Republican on his campaign’s website, which bears marked similarities to the senator’s branding.The DOJ has argued that the second Sullivan’s candidacy was deliberately planned by Democrats to confuse voters who believe they are voting for Sen. Dan Sullivan, pointing to a New York Times interview he did in August in which he admitted to voting for Peltola in her bids for the House in 2022 and 2024, and voting for the Democratic nominee in the last three presidential elections. A source familiar previously told the Washington Examiner that the DOJ is investigating the accusations, and has been since at least August.The Peltola campaign and the Alaska Democratic Party have claimed they are in no way affiliated with the second Sullivan.Republicans have suggested otherwise. The metadata of the second Sullivan’s press release announcing his bid against the senator was written by Amber Lee, the same name as a Democrat strategist whom the New York Times described as a Peltola supporter and who has advocated Peltola on the record several times, a GOP operative previously told the Washington Examiner.ELECTION LAWSUITS TO WATCH ONE WEEK BEFORE THE MIDTERM ELECTIONSIn the latest New York Times report, Peltola’s onetime campaign manager said there was collaboration between her former boss’s team and Democrats to plant a second Dan Sullivan in the race.“Alaskan voters need to know,” Rios said. “There was a lot of speculation, and voters should get the full picture when making their decisions.”