Justice Department Is Sending 20 Target Letters in Criminal Probe of the Alaska Senate Race's Second 'Dan Sullivan' Campaign, NBC News Reports, Citing Two Sources
On Election Day, NBC News reports the Justice Department is sending 20 target letters in a criminal investigation of the campaign of independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. A target letter is not a charge. The report rests on two unnamed sources, and the Justice Department has not confirmed it in anything we found.
On Election Day, NBC News reports that the Justice Department is in the process of sending 20 target letters in its criminal investigation tied to the Alaska Senate race. NBC cites two sources familiar with the investigation. We did not find a Justice Department statement confirming it.
What NBC reports. The letters are part of an investigation into the campaign of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., the independent candidate whose name is close to that of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, the incumbent. (NBC writes "Dan J. Sullivan.") NBC says the Justice Department has already issued 120 subpoenas for information. It says the U.S. Attorney's Office for Alaska and two lawyers in the Civil Rights Division, Brandon Wrobleski and Robert Keenan, are part of the investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. NBC says the exact timing of the letters is unclear, and that the letters do not cover everyone the department is looking at.
What a target letter is. NBC explains that a target letter is an official notice from prosecutors telling a person or group they are a primary focus of a criminal investigation. NBC adds that receiving one does not mean the person will be charged. A subpoena, NBC says, is a court order demanding documents or testimony.
Where this fits. NBC reports the criminal probe is separate from the civil suit the administration filed last month to block certification of the Alaska Senate result. That suit argued that having Sullivan Jr. on the ballot could mislead supporters of the sitting senator. NBC says the administration also asked last week for an order to segregate ballots for the investigation, if it becomes necessary. Our earlier story reports that U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the civil suit on Sunday and that the department said it would appeal to the 9th Circuit.
What is disputed. The accusation behind the probe is that the second Sullivan was recruited to confuse voters. Our earlier stories report that the New York Times said people connected to Democratic nominee Mary Peltola's campaign helped recruit him, and that Peltola's campaign denies any involvement. Sullivan Jr. has said he entered the race on his own. Those are allegations and denials, not findings. No one has been charged, as far as we found.
The timing. NBC notes the Justice Department typically avoids overt steps related to political candidates close to an election, and says the Trump administration has departed from those norms. That is NBC's characterization. The department's view on the timing is not in the report.
Why it matters. Alaska is one of 11 battleground Senate races on the Associated Press results page, and none is called. Polls in most of Alaska close at midnight Eastern (11 p.m. Central), with the westernmost Aleutians closing an hour later. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting. Any result will be unofficial until Alaska certifies it, and we will report the race as called only when the Associated Press calls it.
What we could not check. We could not see the letters, the sources, or any Justice Department or Alaska campaign statement. NBC's entry was posted about 1:05 p.m. Eastern (about 12:05 p.m. Central) Tuesday, and we found no other outlet confirming it at the time of writing. The count of 20 letters and 120 subpoenas comes only from NBC's two sources. We did not find a response from the Peltola campaign or Sullivan Jr. in the entry.
Sources: NBC News live updates, entry "DOJ sending target letters in criminal probe of Alaska Senate race, sources say," posted about 1:05 p.m. ET, November 3, 2026: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/live-blog/midterm-election-results-2026-news-trump-live-updates-rcna605763. Associated Press 2026 election results page: https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/. Our earlier reports: /articles/judge-dismisses-doj-suit-alaska-senate-certification-decoy-dan-doj-to-appeal-fox-news/ and /articles/tim-scott-decoy-dan-plot-criminal-offense-30-subpoenas-alaska-saturday-in-america-fox-news/. Our Election Headquarters: /election/