DOJ investigation into 'double Dan Sullivan' in Alaska mixes civil and criminal fronts and intensifies Senate race

The United States Department of Justice reported that the investigation into the “Decoy Dan” controversy in Alaska has civil and criminal dimensions. The case involves the suspicion that the campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola, candidate for Senate, had recruited another candidate named Dan Sullivan, the same name as the senator who is seeking re-election. The information was discussed on Fox News' "The Will Cain Show".

According to presenter Will Cain, White House policy advisor Stephen Miller spoke earlier about the criminal side of the investigation. To comment on the civil side, the program welcomed Brit Hume, a political analyst for Fox News.

Cain reported that the federal prosecutor said the civil investigation is to preserve electoral ballots in Alaska. He asked Hume what this indicates and what result the authorities could seek regarding the outcome of the election.

For Hume, the effect is above all political

Hume said both investigations are portrayed as very serious, and he has no doubt about that. In his opinion, however, given the legal proceedings, the commotion and the revelations in the newspaper "The New York Times", the case is probably political.

The analyst argued that the central point is whether any registered voter in Alaska has not yet voted, has not heard of the issue and is unaware that there are two Dan Sullivans on the ballot, one of them being the incumbent senator. For Hume, the effect of the publicity generated by the case is probably as important as any legal outcome, if not more so.

Cain questioned whether this effect would serve to provide clarity to voters in the voting booth and also to punish Peltola for the alleged scheme. Hume responded that if the result is that voters vote for Dan Sullivan without being confused, that is an important part. According to him, the episode already harms the Democratic candidate, and the damage tends to increase as she appears evasive or does not tell the truth about the matter.

Early votes raise doubts

Cain highlighted what he considers the most worrying point: 56 thousand people had already voted before the "New York Times" report, when the case had not yet been made public (later, he cited 58 thousand votes). For the presenter, this raises the question about the legitimacy of these votes. "We'll see how this ends," he said.

The transcript does not contain comments on effects on the stock market, interest rates or the dollar. For those who follow the market, what is at stake, according to the debate, is the uncertainty surrounding the fairness of a dispute for the Senate and the developments of the investigations, which are still ongoing.

In the rest of the program, Hume also talked about a Fox Nation special about a friendly fire episode in 1758 that almost changed the course of United States history, involving George Washington.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.