From§Each

Page B48From§Eachthe afternoon edition — 30 October 2026

FOUR AGENCIES, ZERO CHARGES

Four federal and state probes into Alaska's two Dan Sullivans yield zero charges, zero ballots, one denial.

By MitchInvestigations

“Alaska Democrat says she ‘knew nothing’ about effort to put two Dan Sullivans on ballot”, 30 October 2026 (Photo via The Guardian — the original report)

As it ran on the front

Clause by clause, all together now, once through the paper trail. On 31 August, the Washington Examiner reported that Alaska Democrats had found a candidate named Dan J. Sullivan — a Democrat-affiliated man running under Republican branding, sharing a name with the state's sitting Republican senator.

Then the apparatus arrived. On 23 October the Justice Department sued to block certification of Alaska's Senate result — read the condition twice — only if the Republican incumbent loses. On 27 October, Peltola's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss that very suit, Democracy Now reported. Two days later, on 29 October, the New York Times reported that Peltola's campaign had recruited the second Sullivan directly. Peltola denied it that day and has denied it every day since.…

…(cont) Thursday brought the paperwork. The Department of Justice sent out dozens of subpoenas, The Hill reported — more subpoenas, by any count, than ballots currently in dispute, which remains zero. Peltola stood in a bar in Juneau and said what she now says on a loop: "I knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent." Sullivan told Fox News she is "still lying." CBS sent a reporter to the second Dan Sullivan's street; his neighbors could not agree whether he is "a nice guy" or "a hoaxer" — which is more consensus than four agencies have reached on whether he is a criminal. And the Guardian's First Thing newsletter, filing the story for its own readers Thursday morning, included the one sentence that outruns all the subpoenas combined: ballot stacking, it noted plainly, "is not illegal."

Four government bodies. Dozens of subpoenas. Zero ballots altered, zero charges filed. Follow the document to where it actually stops: a lawsuit that only activates if the Republican loses, aimed at a scheme a wire service already calls lawful, answered on schedule by a woman who says she knew nothing — and four agencies deep, nobody has yet filed a single page that says otherwise.

“They tell you there's no money for your kid's school lunch program, but there's plenty for four separate inquiries into a guy who hasn't hurt anybody. The Justice Department wrote its own lawsuit so it only wakes up if the Republican loses — that's not law enforcement, that's a backstop for one guy's seat. The thing they're chasing isn't even a crime, a wire service said so in writing, and there's nobody left to charge.”
Sal
“Look, when you've got two guys named Dan Sullivan on one ballot, that's a legitimate voter confusion issue, full stop, any Secretary of State would tell you that. And sure, the lawsuit only kicks in if our guy loses, but that's — okay, I hear how that sounds, that's not a double standard, that's prudent contingency planning. The subpoenas aren't persecution, they're due diligence, and if due diligence happens to produce zero charges after two months, well — did I just say zero? Let me check my notes.”
Chip

Earlier in this story

The receipts

Alaska Democrat says she ‘knew nothing’ about effort to put two Dan Sullivans on ballot
The Guardianmainstream§

Senate candidate Mary Peltola speaks out as US justice department escalates criminal investigation Alaska Senate race: what to know about Democrats’ alleged ballot-stacking effort Mary Peltola has denied that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent, as…

Peltola denies knowing about Alaska spoiler candidate Dan J. Sullivan
The Hillmainstream§

Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola (D) on Thursday again denied knowing anything about her campaign's alleged recruitment of Dan J. Sullivan to challenge her GOP opponent, incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R), in an effort to dilute the incumbent's vote share.

DOJ issues subpoenas in Alaska Senate race: Reports
The Hillmainstream§

The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued dozens of subpoenas in connection with the ballot-stacking allegations against Alaska’s Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola. On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign was directly involved in recruiting someone with the same name as her opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R).

First Thing: Alaska Senate race descends into legal acrimony over second Dan Sullivan Justice Department sues to block Alaska's election results before voters even decide
The Guardianmainstream§

DoJ reportedly issues subpoenas after reports Democrat campaign sought candidate with same name as Republican incumbent. Plus, tributes pour in for Patrick Stewart Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning.

· DoJ sues to block certification of Alaska Senate results if Republican incumbent loses from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Alaska Democrats couldn’t beat Dan Sullivan, so they ran their own from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026

· ‘Decoy Dan’ Sullivan illegally colluded with liberal group attacking Alaska GOP Sen. Sullivan, watchdog alleges from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Peltola, Sullivan spar in fiery final Alaska Senate debate: ‘Let’s have some decorum’ from the morgue, 16 Oct 2026

This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.