I was at the gym this afternoon when a press conference came on with the U.S. Attorney in Alaska floridly introducing a criminal investigation into this “Dan Sullivan” issue in Alaska. One of my colleagues just noted that to do this, U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman “unrecused” himself from this case. “Unrecusal” is not a thing. He recused himself because he’s trying to get a judgeship from Alaska’s Republican senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski. I note this simply for the comedic nature of this spectacle. This investigation is itself a corrupt abuse of power on three or four different grounds at once.
Let me share some thoughts on this.
I’ve heard a number of people say they’re “troubled” or “disturbed” or unhappy that this happened. All I can say is that I would really recommend that you toughen up because you simply won’t make it through the next few years, even under the best circumstances. There is no crime here and no possibility of a crime here. This is trolling. At worst, it’s a dirty trick. If it is a dirty trick it is a special kind since it has been out in the open and has been a staple of Alaska political news for the better part of a year. Election officials in Alaska already took note of the possibility of confusion and added the word “incumbent” after Sen. Dan S. Sullivan’s name on the ballot, as well as “registered Republican” to make certain that no one can be confused as to who is who. State authorities are the only ones permitted to judge this question and arrive at a solution to it, if it requires one. They already have.
It is entirely within the rights of Alaska voters to look at what happened here and punish the Peltola campaign if they choose to. The Times claims that people associated with Peltola’s campaign recruited Daniel J. Sullivan — who my colleague Kate Riga calls “rando Dan Sullivan.” Peltola denies any involvement. It goes without saying that this claim and article surfacing now is not good news for the Peltola campaign. I’m skeptical that it will make a difference. But the race is so close that it certainly could. I have no way to judge that.
The Trump administration is abusing its prosecutorial power to do everything it can to deceive people into thinking that some crime has been committed. They have already gotten the incumbent Republican governor to threaten not to certify the election if Peltola wins. These are all out in the open threats to disenfranchise Alaskan voters if they don’t comply and elect their chosen candidate. What they’re doing here violates every rule in the book. But let me back up to make a broader point. It is simply undignified to be lectured on election practices by people who are carrying out a months long criminal conspiracy to violate the constitution and wrest from the states their sole constitutional authority to administer elections under federal law. This is all out in the open. We see it happening every day. We here at TPM along with many other publications cover every detail of it. Again, it is undignified even to entertain this nonsense.
Republicans have pulled this same name stunt countless times. No one has ever claimed that it’s a crime because it’s not. For years Republicans have been channeling money to amplify third party candidates to drain vote from Democrats. Now Democrats are doing it too. Nice? Seemly? Who knows. Legal? Absolutely. And none of this is any different. Again voters are free to judge this. But every claim about this needing to be investigated, throwing anything about this election into doubt, should be treated with laughter and contempt.
