DoJ Reportedly Issues Subpoenas Against Named Applicants in Alaska | 2026 US midterm elections

The U.S. Justice Department reportedly issued subpoenas Thursday in response to a report that Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign worked with party members to nominate a challenger with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in the midterms.

ABC News and the Associated Press reported the subpoenas, citing sources familiar with the matter. The federal investigation comes a day after The New York Times revealed that efforts to recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan for the Senate race to be decided Tuesday were being led by Peltola’s campaign, which had denied involvement for months.

Earlier Thursday, Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced a criminal investigation into the initiative, which the Times said was intended to confuse Alaskans who wanted to support the incumbent Republican president.

Last week, Trump said he had ordered the Justice Department to file a lawsuit to block certification of the Senate election if Sullivan did not win. This lawsuit is ongoing.

The subpoenas are the latest aggressive move by the Justice Department amid a politically sensitive backdrop in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s midterm elections. The department has historically avoided conducting open investigations against candidates in the weeks leading up to an election, or other public actions that could be perceived as an attempt to influence a political outcome.

Election law experts said they did not know which federal law would warrant the investigation.

“I don’t know what they’re issuing subpoenas to investigate because I don’t know what federal violations are involved that the DoJ would have jurisdiction over,” said Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official under Joe Biden. “Of course, this makes it seem like the purpose of the investigation is to become a story.”

The information came to light the same day the Justice Department subpoenaed California officials as part of an escalation of its review of local elections administration. Earlier Thursday, a federal judge in California appointed a special master to evaluate the Trump administration’s claims that the state has some 20,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls. The action came less than 24 hours after the judge rejected the Justice Department’s request that California sequester ballots until citizenship could be verified, a decision the department immediately appealed.

For months, the Justice Department has been investigating allegations that Dan J. Sullivan Jr. entered the race to mislead voters and help Peltola’s campaign. The potential targets of the Justice Department’s investigation are unclear, but Donald Trump earlier this week called for criminal charges against Peltola and his campaign.

The race is one of a handful of Senate contests expected this year to determine control of the chamber. Trump previously ordered his Justice Department to take legal action to block certification of the Senate race if Peltola beat Republican Senator Dan S Sullivan.