U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday he would not say whether President Donald Trump told him to pursue a federal lawsuit over Alaska’s Senate race, leaving the president’s role unconfirmed.
“I will not talk about communications I have with the president,” Blanche told moderator Margaret Brennan on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” He said the Justice Department (DOJ) reviewed the matter under federal law and its Civil Rights Unit prepared the filing.
Trump has publicly taken credit for the action. But Blanche did not say whether the president told him or the DOJ to file the case, and he said he would not discuss his communications with Trump.
The DOJ complaint alleges that the similar names of Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and candidate Daniel J. Sullivan could confuse voters. Earlier EconoTimes coverage said the complaint’s theory was that confusion could divert votes from the incumbent and benefit Democratic candidate Mary Peltola. The case’s voter-confusion theory has not been resolved.
The allegation that confusion could affect the race is distinct from a claim about the challenger’s intent. An Anchorage Superior Court judge found the Division of Elections’ assertion that Daniel J. Sullivan sought to confuse voters was unsupported by a preponderance of the evidence; the Alaska Supreme Court later affirmed the decision putting him on the ballot.
In a separate Sunday interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Blanche described the requested relief as preserving ballots so Alaska’s election system could assess whether legally significant confusion affected the result. He also said the case was limited to Alaska, as described in earlier EconoTimes coverage of his explanation.
The election is scheduled for Nov. 3.
