DOJ Sends Target Letters to Marc Elias, ~20 Democrats in Alaska Decoy Probe

The Justice Department is reportedly sending target letters to roughly 20 Democrats, including elections lawyer Marc Elias and at least one Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee official, over the effort to put a second Dan Sullivan on Alaska's Senate ballot. The New York Times reported it Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Investigators are examining possible charges including donor fraud and conspiracy, according to the Washington Examiner's account. The decoy is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher whose name sits beside Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan's on the ballot against Democrat Mary Peltola. The Times first reported Oct. 28 that Democratic operatives linked to the Peltola campaign helped recruit him. Reports indicate DOJ has issued 120 subpoenas. A target letter does not establish guilt or guarantee charges, and it is unclear when the letters went out or whether every recipient got one.

Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to confirm the letters on Fox News but defended the probe: "everybody agrees that there is a fraud on the ballot." Elias's firm has represented Peltola, and FEC records show her campaign paid it as much as $150,000. Elias answered Trump's Fox News remark that he "should go to jail in my opinion" with a post on X: "This is not normal and yet here we are." He did not address the claim that he was involved in the recruitment.

Democrats call it ballot stacking, a familiar tactic, and accuse the administration of weaponizing prosecutors. Republicans counter that recruiting a candidate with an identical name goes well beyond ordinary ballot stacking. The legal bar is real: the federal conspiracy-against-rights statute, 18 U.S.C. § 241, requires proof of an agreement and specific intent to interfere with voting rights. Conservative lawyer Will Chamberlain argues that the right at stake, "properly understood, is the right to cast a ballot for the candidate of one's choice."

On Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason, an Obama appointee, dismissed a separate DOJ civil suit without prejudice, finding the department lacked standing because it offered no workable remedy for voter confusion that preserved ballot secrecy. DOJ had sought to delay certification if the incumbent lost. The judge did not decide whether the recruitment scheme was illegal, and DOJ says it will appeal. Elias said: "We will win this case, Mary will win this election, she will be certified and seated." Whether a name-clone candidate is a clever tactic or a fraud on voters is exactly what the appeal and any grand jury will have to answer.