Media Must Cover DOJ’s Alaska Suit as Election Interference

The Trump DOJ has filed a lawsuit to block Alaska from certifying its Senate election results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola. The pretext: a different man named “Daniel J. Sullivan” is also on the ballot as a Republican, and the DOJ claims voters will be confused — even though Sullivan is clearly listed as the incumbent. This lawsuit was filed the day after Attorney General Todd Blanche publicly admitted he was open to blocking states from certifying elections. The DOJ is now attempting to do exactly that, in a closely watched race, nine days before Election Day.

This is not a voter protection measure. It is a contingency plan — filed in advance, triggered only if the Republican loses — to give the administration legal cover to contest a Democratic victory. The Justice Department has never before inserted itself into election certification this way. The framing is transparent: manufacture a confusion argument, get a court to hold certification, then dispute the outcome. As journalist Pedro Gonzalez put it: “They’re going to do this everywhere they think they can get away with it.”

We call on the media to cover the DOJ’s Alaska lawsuit not as an unusual legal maneuver, but as what it plainly is: a president using the nation’s top law enforcement agency to preemptively interfere in a Senate election he fears his party will lose. The public deserves reporting that names this as election interference — before the votes are counted, not after.