As the campaign to take control of the U.S. Congress entered the final weekend before the elections, the Trump administration intensified its intervention in the Alaska Senate race, while the number of Americans who voted early approached 50 million, a record for midterm elections.
The Justice Department accelerated its criminal investigation in Alaska on Friday, following reports that aides to a Democratic Senate candidate had recruited a retired teacher from a remote fishing village to run for election because he shares the same name as the current Republican senator.
Based on a civil lawsuit that President Trump said he encouraged to be filed, the department made additional requests to try to prevent Alaska from certifying the Senate election results if the current Republican, Dan S. Sullivan, loses a close race, which also includes independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot.
The close race in Alaska is seen as crucial for Democrats if they hope to seize control of the Senate from Republicans led by Trump in Tuesday's election.
"Figurehead candidate" in the Alaska race
This race is one of 35 races for the 100-member Senate, which will shape the final two years of Trump's presidency. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for grabs.
Early voting in this cycle has set a record, with more than 49 million Americans already having voted, either in person or by mail, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab, compared to about 46 million who voted before Election Day in the previous midterm elections in 2022.
Winning either or both chambers could lead to congressional investigations into the Trump administration, which enjoyed two years of largely cooperative Republican control.
Trump has been campaigning intensively in several states over the past month, but travel is not on his schedule today, Saturday, which will see a number of traditional American events, from politics to Halloween and college football across the country. Trump will return to the campaign trail tomorrow, Sunday, in Kansas and Iowa.
Michael Hawman, U.S. Attorney in Alaska, said at a press conference on Friday that a recent article published by The New York Times about reported recruitment attempts led to a "significant increase" in the resources allocated by the FBI to the matter, adding that he tasked several representatives of the attorney general’s office to investigate and that investigative procedures are being conducted "intensely and swiftly".
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that aides to Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola had enlisted Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to enter the race. Hawman described him as a "figurehead candidate," but he refrained from specifying what crime might have been committed.
Hawman stated that the department has already filed the civil lawsuit, but he added: "When the New York Times article was published, it provided additional information that expedited what we were doing."
For her part, Peltola denied any knowledge of efforts to recruit Sullivan, and the retired teacher denied coordinating with Peltola's campaign.
Races in Other States
The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against California in an attempt to prevent the counting of ballots cast by more than 20,000 registered voters whom the administration claims may not be American citizens.
The administration also filed lawsuits against about 30 states and the District of Columbia, demanding access to full voter records without redaction.
A federal judge ordered the Justice Department on Friday to stop threatening to prosecute election officials in California if they do not comply with Trump administration directives regarding allegations of non-citizen voting.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from September 30 to October 5, a bipartisan majority of American voters trust the electoral process in general, with 76% saying they are confident that their votes will be counted accurately. Fifteen percent said they are not confident, while the remainder expressed uncertainty or did not answer the question. Confidence levels were similar among Republicans and Democrats.