Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended a Trump administration lawsuit that seeks to block certification of Alaska's Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses his race. He said the legal action was needed to avoid confusing voters in a closely watched midterm contest.
Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," Blanche said President Donald Trump is not trying to overturn state election results "in any way, shape or form" as the Nov. 3 election approaches. "We wish that we didn't have to do this. We hope for a resolution that works," he said. Trump said Friday that he was "the one that said do it."
The dispute centers on a second candidate on the ballot who is also named Dan Sullivan. He is a retired teacher and school administrator from the small fishing community of Petersburg. Republicans worry that this candidate could draw votes away from the senator and hand the seat to Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman.
Under the ballot's format, voters will see "Dan S. Sullivan" labeled as a "registered Republican" and "incumbent." The other candidate, "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.," will appear with no party affiliation.
Trump told reporters Sunday that he considered the ballot illegal because it was unfair, and argued that the sitting senator should be identified to voters as such. "At least let him use the name Sen. Dan Sullivan as opposed to incumbent, because a lot of people don't know what incumbent means," he said.
The Justice Department filed the suit Thursday. The next day, Peltola called it "just flagrant, flagrant corruption in my opinion" and described it as a diversion tactic by Republicans. Alaska's other Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, also criticized the lawsuit in a social media post.
Blanche previously served as Trump's personal attorney before the president appointed him to lead the Justice Department. He defended Trump in the election interference case that effectively ended when voters returned Trump to the White House for a second term.
CNN host Dana Bash asked whether Trump might be laying the groundwork for the kind of election challenges that preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. Blanche called the question "crazy." "We are not doing anything improper. We're not doing anything we're not allowed to do," he said, adding that the process must be allowed to play out.
On CBS' "Face the Nation," Blanche said the lawsuit is intended to "put guardrails in place" to preserve possible evidence of voter confusion at the polls. "It's not saying, 'Don't certify,'" he said. He explained that if a court ultimately determines the outcome was driven by confusion rather than the will of the voters, the administration believes states should not certify the result, which he described as consistent with both federal and Alaska law.
