Democratic lawyer and Trump foe Marc Elias is the target of the DOJ’s investigation into Alaska voting, sources say.

Marc Elias, a longtime Democratic lawyer and vocal opponent of the Trump administration, is the target of the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into whether Democrats sought to confuse Alaska voters by recruiting a candidate of the same name as outgoing Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, according to a law enforcement official and a second source familiar with the matter.

Elias is just one of many people who have received either destination letters, preservation letters or grand jury subpoenas of the Justice Department as part of the investigation, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska and also involving prosecutors from the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division, multiple sources said.

Around 20 target and preservation letters have been issued to date as part of the investigation. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, meanwhile, separately received a grand jury subpoena, a law enforcement source told CBS News.

CBS News has contacted the DSCC for comment.

In recent days, President Trump has made public statements denouncing Elias on social media and calling for his prosecution.

“No one should be surprised that President Trump’s department is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day,” Elias said in a statement to CBS News.

“This administration has repeatedly used the DOJ as a weapon against the president’s political enemies despite no evidence of wrongdoing, and we are the latest targets.”

He added that his firm, Elias Law Group, “proudly” counts itself among Mr. Trump’s political enemies and said it was “proud” to represent Democratic campaigns and progressive groups fighting his administration.

“We will not be intimidated by a false investigation,” he said. “We will continue to work around the clock to support our customers and ensure that President Trump and his party enjoy a well-deserved victory at the polls.”

Federal prosecutors have not said what crimes they are investigating.

Last week, Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, suggested during an appearance on Fox News that they might investigate violations of 18 USC 241 — a civil rights law that prohibits two or more people from conspiring to threaten or intimidate any person freely exercising their constitutional or federal rights.

The timing of the letters and subpoenas, which have been sent in recent days, appears to run counter to internal Justice Department guidelines and historical standards limit investigative measures before a national election.

Brandon Wrobleski, acting chief of the criminal section of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, personally sought to recruit assistant U.S. attorneys in Alaska to help with the investigation, but some declined or expressed discomfort with getting involved, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Michael Heyman, the court-appointed U.S. attorney in Alaska, took the unusual step last week of holding a news conference with the FBI’s special agent in charge in Anchorage, during which he publicly revealed the existence of a criminal investigation whether Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s agents helped recruit an independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan in an attempt to confuse Republican voters.

The investigation gained momentum shortly after The New York Times reported that Peltola campaign lawyers, as well as senior aides to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, were involved in the recruitment effort.

Such ballot stacking tactics have been used in the past by members of both political parties and, while controversial, are not generally considered illegal. Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied any connection to the effort to put Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot.

“This new information has resulted in a significant increase in law enforcement resources in Alaska, and I have also assigned several attorneys in my office to assist me in this matter,” Heyman said Friday, adding, “As we speak, law enforcement agencies across the country are taking investigative steps regarding a criminal investigation into these matters.”

Heyman denied that the Justice Department was ramping up its investigation or trying to time its actions around the election, and cited public reporting by The New York Times as the basis for the increased activity.

“We are not making anything worse except to the extent that a new article is published,” he told reporters on Friday.

“This has been going on, you know, sort of quietly for several months, with the intention of not escalating anything. But to the extent that there are allegations made on the eve of the investigation that may go to the heart of the integrity of the induction, we’re going to take them seriously – even if it’s a few days before the election.”

Elias and his team of lawyers have been involved in more than 90 voting and election lawsuits, including dozens of challenges to the Justice Department’s efforts to access unredacted voter rolls so they can be screened for possible noncitizens.

He is also involved in civil litigation in Alaska, in which the Justice Department sought to block certification of the state’s Senate election results in the midterm elections if incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan lost.

A U.S. district judge rejected On Sunday, the Justice Department sued, finding it lacked standing to sue.

Over the weekend, Mr. Trump called efforts to put the second Sullivan on the ballot a “fraud” and a “Democratic scam” perpetrated by Senator Charles Schumer and Elias.

“This was done by Schumer. I mean, it really started with Schumer and attorney Marc Elias. And I think they should be held criminally responsible for this,” Trump said.

Elias is one of several political adversaries of Mr. Trump who have been targeted in recent DOJ criminal investigations.

Recently, prosecutors also obtained a search warrant for the Minnesota Democratic Party. House of Representative Ilhan Omar in Washington, as part of an investigation into possible immigration fraud.

They also sought to charge two former senior FBI officials with lying to Congress about their roles in the bureau’s investigation of Hunter Biden. tried to secure an indictment against Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide who gave damaging testimony about President Donald Trump’s actions during the attack on the U.S. Capitol before a House committee investigating the event.

The grand jury refused to charge Hutchinsonand a federal magistrate judge dismissed the complaint against the former FBI officials, saying there was no probable cause and that it appeared to be a politically motivated prosecution, intentionally timed with the midterm elections.