DAN AND OUT?

Dem Campaign Hit With Criminal Probe After Trump’s Demand

The president was furious after the ruse emerged.

A Democratic Senate campaign is being investigated over an elaborate same-name ruse after President Trump melted down over it.

On Wednesday, The New York Times revealed that Democratic Senate hopeful Mary Peltola’s campaign staff helped recruit a candidate with the same name as her top Republican challenger, Dan Sullivan, to run in Alaska as a potential spoiler.

WARPATH

Trump Makes Bonkers Demand in Revenge for Dem Election Stunt

Christopher Buchanan

“It has just been determined that the Democrats in Alaska illegally searched for, and recruited, a man named Dan Sullivan to run against our distinguished Republican Senator, Dan Sullivan, in order to defraud, confuse, and obfuscate the Election,” Trump responded on Truth Social.

“Mary Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done, A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, and Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without either Mary Peltola or FAKE Dan Sullivan on the Ballot.”

Speaking to reporters on his way to a rally in Ohio, he described the ploy as “voter fraud at the highest level.”

“They said they didn’t do it, and they did do it, and they got caught,” he said.

The 80-year-old also demanded that Peltola be removed from the ballot and prosecuted.

On Wednesday, Trump got his wish. On Wednesday night, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, said he was ordering an investigation into whether the campaign should face criminal charges or civil penalties.

“Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections,” he said in a post on X. “Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable.”

The scheme, which Peltola’s campaign has denied involvement in, involved operatives finding a retired man with little experience to run against the incumbent, Dan Sullivan. The hook is that the man they found, a retiree living in south-eastern Alaska, is also called Dan Sullivan.

The Times reported that Peltola officials, together with the party’s campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), encouraged the retiree to run in a bid to tarnish the incumbent’s campaign.

“Alaskan voters need to know,” Elisa Rios, a staffer Peltola fired in August, told the publication. It added that she later tried to retract her interview.

Officials in the northwestern state initially fought to keep the retiree off the ballot, but earlier this year, the Alaska Supreme Court intervened, stating that it was not illegal to have both Sullivans on the ballot.

Peltola has maintained a narrow lead over the incumbent Dan Sullivan in polls. A Times/Siena survey conducted late last month put her ahead 50 percent to 43 percent.

Peltola’s campaign has been contacted for comment.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Leigh KimminsReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.