Justice Department Issues New Subpoenas in Alaska Senate Ballot Spoiler Candidate Probe

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola said Thursday in Juneau, Alaska, that she knew nothing about an effort to put a candidate with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan on the ballot, as the Justice Department issued new grand jury subpoenas, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The subpoenas seek grand jury testimony or documents and include records preservation demands. They followed a New York Times report that Peltola's campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan Jr. in an alleged effort to confuse voters. The person said more subpoenas were expected; the recipients and their number were unclear. The department has spent months examining claims that Sullivan Jr. entered the race to siphon votes from the incumbent, and the potential targets are unclear. A House oversight committee sought interviews, and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered a state investigation. The race is considered key to control of the Senate.

Left-leaning outlets split in emphasis. HuffPost, running the AP report, leads with Peltola's denial and her statement that she is not interested in tricking voters, then gives the anonymous-source details on subpoenas. The New York Times headline instead stresses Republicans ramping up the inquiry into a Democratic plan to pack the ballot, listing the Justice Department, House committee and state. Right-leaning Just the News, in the text provided, does not cover Alaska. It reports Justice Department grand jury subpoenas to at least two Los Angeles County elections employees in a noncitizen voter-roll probe, with a Nov. 4 proceeding, and a judge's rejection of a bid to halt counting of over 20,000 ballots. The shared thread is Justice Department subpoenas tied to elections, but the right-leaning story concerns a different case. Alternative outlet NewsNation reuses the AP headline and adds Dunleavy's investigation order.