“This could snowball quickly as staffers seek safe harbor,” renowned George Washington University Law Professor Johnathan Turley explained Wednesday in his analysis of a New York Times report that Alaska Democrats schemed to deceive voters in the midterm elections.
Democrat Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign sought out and convinced a retired teacher with the same name as her Republican opponent to put his name on the ballot in an apparent effort to dupe voters, The The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing its review of communications and interviews.
“If true, the report raises concerns over filings by Peltola in seeking to dismiss an action by the Justice Department to address the obvious effort to confuse voters. The Peltola campaign did not state that they were actively informed in such efforts to cause vote errors,” Prof. Turley noted in a series of X.com posts.
In light of the Justice Department’s federal lawsuit seeking to block certification of the election results, if votes for the other Mr. Sullivan cost Senator Sullivan the win, Peltola’s staff could be exposed to legal liability, Prof. Turley explained:
“Since the Justice Department has already filed and has raised concerns over the legality of this effort, campaign officials can be at risk if there were efforts to conceal this conduct in pressuring potential witnesses or destroying possible evidence.”
“This could snowball quickly as staffers seek safe harbor given the federal filing,” Turley predicted, noting that “The NY Times is citing not just this campaign worker but others associated previously with the campaign.”
Turley called it “striking” that The New York Times article refers to multiple sources attesting to the Peltola campaign's effort.
“It is even more problematic when Peltola recently filed to prevent efforts to address the confusion by calling the allegations “baseless,” Prof. Turley added:
“In her recent federal filing, Mary Peltola's counsel insisted, ‘DOJ's complaint is wholly baseless.’ Now the NY Times is reporting that her campaign was actively involved in seeking to confuse Alaskan voters by running decoy ‘Dan Sullivans.’ A staffer now says that Peltola knew about the effort to force voter confusion.”
Prof. Turley did, however, cast doubt on the allegation that Peltola’s lawyers played a role in the scheme, because “few would be willing to put themselves at such risk,” legally and professionally.
As CNSNews has reported, interviews, text messages, and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit obtained by The New York Times suggest that Peltola’s campaign:
- Instructed a staffer to find as many people in Alaska named Dan Sullivan (the Republican candidate) as possible.
- Compiled a list of Alaskan Dan Sullivans, based on voter records.
- Employed an operative using a fake name to travel to, and meet with, each Dan Sullivan to convince him to declare himself a Senate candidate.
- Persuaded a retired teacher named Dan Sullivan living in a tiny fishing village accessible only by air and sea to announce his candidacy for the state’s Senate.
- Involved the Peltola campaign’s lawyers and senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).
- Dubbed the scheme “the ballot composition project.”
