The FBI has begun questioning donors to Dan Sullivan about whether they may have been misled, as federal authorities intensify a criminal investigation involving the Alaska US Senate candidate who shares a name with the Republican incumbent.
Agents have contacted donors in at least two remote Alaska communities, as well as several people in Massachusetts.
An Anchorage-based FBI agent visited a boat dealership in Petersburg, a small fishing town accessible only by air or water and home to the candidate.
The agent left a business card for Charles Flint, who told The Associated Press that he has known Dan Sullivan for years and considers him a respected teacher and musician.
The FBI outreach followed confirmation from federal officials that a criminal investigation into the candidate was underway. On Friday, the US Department of Justice also asked a court to segregate certain Alaska ballots while authorities examine possible voter confusion.
Flint donated $500 during the summer to what he viewed as a long-shot campaign. He said he understood Dan Sullivan would face expenses and admired him for “throwing his hat in the ring.”
According to Flint, the FBI agent asked his son, who works at the dealership, whether Flint believed he had been “misled” about the candidate he was backing.
“I don’t feel like I’ve been misled at all,” Flint, who was away from home, told the AP by phone. He added that he did not plan to contact the agent, saying he would “let him waste his time trying to track me down.”
“I don’t think there’s any confusion,” Flint said. He plans to rank Democrat Mary Peltola first on his ballot, followed by Dan Sullivan. “Everybody knows who the incumbent is.”
President Trump addressed the investigation Saturday night at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate, describing it as “voter fraud at the highest level.”
He also implied that Dan Sullivan had gone into hiding. “Nobody can find him now, so he knows he’s guilty,” Trump said.
The president further suggested, without offering evidence, that senior Democratic figures outside Alaska may have played a role and should face prosecution.
Alaska US Attorney Michael Heyman said in Anchorage that the federal investigation had been underway for months. However, recent reporting by The New York Times indicating that Peltola’s campaign may have helped recruit retired teacher Dan Sullivan led to a “significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska,” he said.
Two FBI agents also traveled to Sitka, where they conducted a brief doorstep interview with another donor.
The donor, who asked not to be identified because of the ongoing investigation, said the agents wanted to know whether the contribution had gone to the Sullivan the donor intended to support.
The discussion lasted approximately five minutes, the donor told the AP.
The donor described the agents as “scrupulously polite” and said they made clear that participation was voluntary.
Another donor, Pat Campbell of Groton, Massachusetts, said two FBI agents arrived at her home Friday and spoke with her husband.
“They said they were from the FBI and investigating fraud in election contributions,” Campbell wrote in a text message to the AP. “No, we had not been defrauded. We knew to whom we had contributed.”
The investigation comes just days before Tuesday’s ranked-choice general election, with Peltola, a former congresswoman, challenging Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in a race that could prove pivotal.
At a campaign rally in Anchorage on Friday, Peltola again denied participating in any effort to place candidates on the ballot to draw votes away from the incumbent senator.
She said she was “deeply offended” by the allegations, calling them “garbage” and part of a “smear campaign” aimed at suppressing turnout before the election.
“I know I can beat Dan Sullivan. I do not need any help winning this race,” she told a small gathering of campaign volunteers at an aviation museum in Anchorage.
