Trump claims lawyers are hiding Alaska Senate candidate; post offers no evidence

In his 2 November Truth Social post, Trump called the unnamed lawyers criminals, alleged senior Democrats were involved and demanded that Daniel J. Sullivan and Democratic candidate Mary Peltola be charged. He also said Peltola should be forced to resign, without saying what position he meant; she is a former US representative.

The retired teacher from Petersburg is running against Peltola and Senator Dan S. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent backed by Trump. The 3 November election could help determine control of the US Senate.

In a separate post hours later, dated 3 November in US Eastern time, Trump suggested Democratic lawyers might have “kidnapped” the teacher, again without providing evidence in the post.

The Associated Press reported that Daniel J. Sullivan had not returned messages in recent days. On 26 October, he had replied by email to the Alaska Beacon about his party registration. That reply does not establish where he was a week later; nor do unanswered messages show that lawyers are hiding him.

The recruitment effort

The New York Times reported an effort by Democratic aides to recruit candidates who could draw support from the senator, including another Dan Sullivan. The newspaper said it interviewed 12 people and reviewed text messages and documents.

Elisa Rios, a former Peltola campaign manager, told the Times that Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz told colleagues he had contacted the teacher and described him as open to running if it helped Peltola. Another prospective candidate identified Kurtz from a photograph as the man who had asked him to run, the paper reported. Kurtz did not respond to its requests for comment.

Rios, who was dismissed in August and had been planning a wrongful-dismissal lawsuit, also said Peltola knew about the project but was not directly involved. She later retracted her statements and asked not to be used as a source; the Times said her interviews were consistent with its other reporting.

Peltola denies involvement, and her campaign and the national Democratic Senate campaign committee deny recruiting candidates. Daniel J. Sullivan has said he decided to run on his own and previously denied contact with Peltola’s campaign. Recruiting candidates to divide an opponent’s support is generally regarded as legal, the Times said, although that does not settle the legality of any particular conduct.

The Times also reported Rios’s account that a lawyer for Peltola’s campaign and the national committee was involved in an earlier proposal to form a right-wing party; it cited messages about the idea. The report predated Trump’s post and did not say that the lawyer hid or coached the candidate.