4 minPolitics
Schiff accuses Justice Department of trying to subvert Alaska Senate election
Sen. Adam Schiff says the Justice Department's lawsuit over Alaska's Senate ballot is an attempt to subvert the election, as Republicans allege a same-name candidate was backed to confuse voters.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., accused the Justice Department of trying to subvert elections through its lawsuit over Alaska's unusual Senate ballot, even as Republicans allege Democrats have backed a candidate with the same name as the GOP nominee to confuse voters. The dispute centers on Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, R-Alaska, who faces Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a candidate with no party affiliation.
Schiff told NBC News on Sunday that the federal government has no standing to bring the suit and no business running Alaska's elections. "They have already adjudicated this question, and the Justice Department knows this, but it just shows how complicit they are now in the Trump campaign to try to subvert the elections," he said. He predicted the case has "no chance of succeeding."
Republicans contend that Daniel Sullivan entered the race to draw votes away from the incumbent and help former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democratic challenger. The candidate and his campaign deny that claim. Alaska's unusual primary system allowed Daniel J. Sullivan of Petersburg to advance to the general election ballot alongside the incumbent and Peltola.
State election officials first disqualified the Petersburg Sullivan, citing his requested ballot name, recent party registration and similarities between campaign materials, and raising concerns the candidacy was intended to confuse voters. An Alaska Superior Court judge overturned that decision, allowing him to remain on the ballot, and the Alaska Supreme Court later upheld the ruling.
The Justice Department filed its suit last week after the state proceedings concluded. Its complaint asks the court to prevent certification in a specific scenario: if the incumbent loses but would have won had votes cast for the Petersburg Sullivan gone to him. In that case, the department seeks to delay certification pending an investigation into whether voters intended to support the incumbent. The filing states the candidacy's "sole purpose" is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing votes for Sen. Sullivan, and it cites a letter from Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher alleging the declaration of candidacy was not properly filed.
Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the lawsuit on Sunday, citing federal election law. He said the department does "not seek to stop any ballot from being cast or to stop the certification of Alaska's election," but aims to preserve ballots so that Alaska's officials can determine whether voters were confused or misled. The suit relies on the National Voter Registration Act, which identifies protecting election integrity as one of its purposes, and Blanche said it was written by department attorneys without coordination with any campaign.
Schiff, a longtime adversary of Trump who served as lead House impeachment manager in Trump's first impeachment trial and later sat on the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, drew a comparison to the 2020 election. He argued that senior Justice Department officials at that time, including Attorney General William Barr, refused to support efforts to overturn the results, while accusing current leadership of going further. "This time, with [Attorney General Todd] Blanche, they are all in on this disgraceful campaign," he said.
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