The Justice Department has sent criminal target letters to more than a dozen people it believes helped recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s Senate race, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the investigation. A target letter tells a person that prosecutors are working toward possible charges against them.
The recipients include the leadership of the Elias Law Group, the elections law firm that represents the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola, who is challenging Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. The candidate at the center of the case is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who shares the senator’s name. Reporting by The New York Times, summarized by the Election Law Blog, put the number of letters at about 20, including the firm’s chairman, Marc Elias, and at least one committee official, and said prosecutors are looking at possible donor fraud and conspiracy counts.
The department has also issued more than 100 grand jury subpoenas and document-preservation letters, and investigators have begun interviewing witnesses, a law enforcement official told CNN. Among those interviewed is Matthew Salisbury, a former candidate for the U.S. House, who said an operative tried to recruit him to run as a spoiler candidate against Sen. Sullivan.
Elias answered in a statement: “No one should be surprised that President Trump’s Department of Justice is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day. We will not be intimidated by a sham investigation.”
Michael Heyman, the U.S. attorney for Alaska, said on Friday that a news report describing the recruiting effort gave investigators new material. Justice Department officials say the work is meant to safeguard votes, not sway the election. Democrats say recruiting a candidate is a common campaign tactic and is not clearly illegal under state law.
The letters are the criminal side of a fight Zark News has covered since Oct. 31, when the department confirmed a criminal investigation into the recruiting effort. In a separate civil case, a federal judge on Sunday dismissed the department’s bid to set Alaska Senate ballots aside, and the department is appealing.
Sources: CNN, Nov. 3, 2026; Election Law Blog summary of New York Times reporting, Nov. 3, 2026.
