Trump says he ordered Justice Department lawsuit targeting Alaska Senate certification

President Donald Trump said Friday that he directed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit that seeks to stop Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate result if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses a close race to Democrat Mary Peltola.

"I'm the one that said do it," Trump told reporters, according to the Associated Press, as reported by OPB.

The suit, filed late Thursday in federal court in Alaska, focuses on a second candidate on the ballot, Daniel J. Sullivan of Petersburg. Republicans have argued he is a Democratic plant meant to pull votes from the incumbent. He has said he chose to run on his own, OPB reported. The complaint asks that certification be paused pending an investigation into whether votes for Daniel J. Sullivan were intended for the senator.

The Daily Montanan reported that the department relies on the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act, which lists protecting electoral integrity among its purposes. In a statement, the department called the second Sullivan's bid a frivolous candidacy and noted that Alaska's Republican election officials had sought to remove him, according to OPB. A state court and the Alaska Supreme Court kept him on the ballot.

Outlets differ slightly on his primary showing. The Daily Montanan put it at 2.5% and described him as a Republican. OPB reported 4,107 votes, about 2%, and said he will appear without a party label. Alaska's ranked-choice system lets voters select both men. The general election is Nov. 3.

Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Thursday, before the filing, that the department does not intend to improperly interfere with certification, though he acknowledged hypothetical scenarios in which it might act, both outlets reported.

Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller criticized the case. "The statute simply doesn't let the Department of Justice enjoin certification," he told the AP, predicting a likely dismissal if the case is not mooted.

A Sullivan campaign spokesman said the campaign would let the complaint run its course. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called the suit a sham, OPB reported.

Separately, the Daily Montanan reported that the department appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a California case seeking to block counting of about 20,000 ballots from voters it says are likely noncitizens unless they prove citizenship. Prosecutors treated U.S. District Judge David Carter's lack of a ruling as a denial, though he had set an Oct. 27 hearing. California's secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar have asked that the case be dismissed.

Compiled by True News from reporting by Daily Montanan, Minnesota Reformer, OPB and New Hampshire Bulletin. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/393