A former Alaska Republican lawmaker told Digital the FBI interviewed him after an apparent Democratic political operative allegedly posed as a conservative recruiter and tried to persuade him to enter the state’s U.S. Senate race amid an intensifying congressional investigation into the controversial «Decoy Dan Sullivan» ballot scheme.

The allegations raise questions about potential federal criminal liability. Article III Project attorney Will Chamberlain argued that a coordinated effort to deceive voters about a candidate’s identity could violate 18 U.S.C. § 241, the federal conspiracy-against-rights statute.

The revelations come after former campaign staff for Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola spoke to the New York Times about their knowledge of a reported scheme to stack Alaska’s four-person ballot with other «Dan Sullivans» to help siphon votes from incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan.

MARY PELTOLA’S CAMPAIGN, DEMS BACKED COVERT SCHEME TO FIELD SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE: REPORT

The ballot ultimately included Peltola, incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, Republican Gerald Heikes and retired Petersburg teacher Dan J. Sullivan. Whether the similarly named candidate diverted votes or affected the outcome remains unproven.

Chamberlain told Digital the alleged operation could constitute a federal felony if prosecutors establish that participants conspired to interfere with voters’ constitutional rights.

PELTOLA CAMPAIGN’S ALLEGED DAN SULLIVAN SPOILER PLOT TAKES NEW TURN AS DOJ FACES MAJOR LEGAL HURDLE

«The basic concept is you’re not allowed to conspire to injure or harm people’s constitutional rights. And one of those rights is to vote for the candidate of your choice,» Chamberlain said.

«These people conspired to put a fake ‘Decoy Dan’ Sullivan on the ballot in order to trick people who were going into the ballot box intending to vote for the incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan,» he alleged. «There’s a lot of good precedent on this that suggests that’s a crime and a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.»

Chamberlain cited historical cases involving ballot manipulation, while acknowledging that the precise circumstances of recruiting a same-name candidate have not previously been addressed in an identical case.

«Nothing exactly like this has happened before in the sense of recruiting a same-name candidate to trick people in the ballot box,» he said, adding that a lot of slanted electoral messaging is not illegal.

ALASKA’S GOVERNOR ORDERS INVESTIGATION AFTER NYT REPORT ON ALLEGED DEM-LINKED SENATE ELECTION SCHEME

«If you want to pretend that another Republican is better than the current incumbent or pretend that the incumbent’s not running and then persuade someone to vote for that candidate, that’s not a ‘conspiracy against rights’ because the right to vote for the candidate of your choice has not been impinged upon,» he said.

«It’s the fact that when you’re conspiring to put two people with the exact same name on the ballot to trick people who are going in there intending to vote for the incumbent and get them to vote for somebody else by deception.»

Meanwhile, former state Rep. David Eastman, a Republican from the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, told Digital by phone from Wasilla that he was approached by an operative under what he later surmised were false pretenses to recruit him into the race. Eastman said he also received several «fake mailers» suggesting «Decoy Dan» Sullivan was the real or only Sullivan in the race.

The mailers, shared with Digital, are framed in a «meet the candidates» format and do omit Senator Sullivan.

Eastman told Digital he was approached in the Mat-Su by an operative he later identified in a blog post as Jerid Kurtz, who was named in the New York Times report. Eastman said the operative claimed to represent conservative donors and encouraged him to run for Senate.

«He approached me through a constituent. I sat down with him in April here in Wasilla,» Eastman said.

«He pretended to represent conservative donors and was looking for conservative candidates to run for federal office; none of which was true,» Eastman added.

Eastman alleged Kurtz «pretended» to represent conservative donors and used a false name, but said the operative never mentioned either Sullivan or disclosed an intention to confuse voters during their meeting.

Digital reached out to the DSCC, Peltola’s campaign and Wingspan Strategies — where Kurtz is named in congressional documents as a co-owner — for comment. Dan J. Sullivan reportedly «vanished» as investigators began knocking on doors in his remote community, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The allegations come as federal investigators examine whether Democratic political operatives improperly recruited Dan J. Sullivan in an effort to confuse voters who intended to support Senator Sullivan.

The controversy has also reached Capitol Hill. In an October 29 letter, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., requested that Kurtz appear for an in-person transcribed interview on November 6 concerning allegations that operatives associated with Mary Peltola’s campaign sought to recruit similarly named candidates to confuse voters.

«As a Democrat operative who was allegedly tasked with assisting in this effort, you have information that will assist the Committee’s investigation,» Comer wrote.

«If you do not voluntarily appear for the interview, we will be forced to evaluate the use of compulsory process,» he warned.

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Eastman said Kurtz did not mention either Sullivan or disclose an effort to confuse voters during their April meeting. He nevertheless questioned the operative’s intentions after subsequent reporting connected Kurtz to the alleged candidate recruitment effort.

Eastman also confirmed the FBI has interviewed him. Digital reached out to the bureau for comment.

alaska, elections disputes, midterm elections, voting, fbi, voter fraud concerns, politics, donald trump

Una nueva ola de amenazas de bomba encendió las alarmas en los aeropuertos de Europa y obligó a desviar varios vuelos comerciales este jueves. Al menos 12 aeronaves fueron afectadas por las alertas, que provocaron aterrizajes de emergencia, operativos de seguridad y el despliegue de aviones de combate para escoltar a algunos de los pasajeros.

Uno de los episodios más llamativos involucró a un Airbus A320 de la aerolínea irlandesa Aer Lingus, que cubría la ruta entre Dublín y Roma. La aeronave recibió una amenaza de bomba durante el trayecto y fue desviada hacia la base aérea militar de Évreux-Fauville, en Normandía, Francia.

El avión aterrizó escoltado por un caza Rafale de la Fuerza Aérea francesa. A bordo viajaban 151 pasajeros y seis integrantes de la tripulación, que fueron puestos a salvo. Equipos especializados en desactivación de explosivos quedaron a cargo de inspeccionar el aparato.

Según informó la oficina del primer ministro francés, Sébastien Lecornu, los cazas militares despegaron para interceptar el avión apenas se conoció la amenaza. Durante el vuelo, el comandante modificó su trayectoria y realizó varias maniobras sobre el norte de Francia antes de dirigirse hacia la base militar.

Otro de los vuelos afectados fue uno de Finnair que viajaba desde Helsinki hacia Roma. La aeronave recibió una comunicación anónima sobre la posible presencia de un artefacto explosivo y fue escoltada por aviones de la Aeronáutica Militar italiana hasta el aeropuerto de Fiumicino, donde aterrizó con normalidad.

Una vez en tierra, efectivos policiales y especialistas en explosivos comenzaron las inspecciones correspondientes. Según las primeras informaciones, no se encontraron elementos sospechosos a bordo.

En paralelo, un avión de Wizz Air que había partido desde Milán Malpensa con destino a Varsovia fue desviado a Viena, Austria, después de que la compañía recibiera una amenaza durante el vuelo. La aerolínea confirmó que el cambio de destino respondió a los protocolos de seguridad y que estaba colaborando con las autoridades.

Los otros vuelos afectados y los operativos de seguridad

Las alertas también alcanzaron a Bulgaria, donde tres aviones tuvieron que modificar sus destinos. Dos vuelos que habían partido desde Copenhague y Madrid aterrizaron en el aeropuerto Vasil Levski de Sofía, mientras que otro que viajaba desde Londres fue desviado hacia Plovdiv, la segunda ciudad más grande del país.

La nueva serie de amenazas se produjo apenas dos días después de otro episodio que había generado preocupación en distintos países europeos. El martes, al menos siete vuelos y un crucero recibieron alertas similares, que obligaron a realizar aterrizajes no programados y activar operativos policiales en aeropuertos de Italia, España, Bulgaria y Polonia.

Investigan el origen de las amenazas y crece la preocupación por una posible guerra híbrida

Uno de los datos que llamó la atención de los investigadores es que las amenazas recibidas por los vuelos de Helsinki y Dublín tendrían un posible punto en común: un correo electrónico anónimo escrito en italiano.

Según fuentes de la investigación citadas por medios europeos, el mensaje llegó durante las primeras horas del jueves a direcciones de la empresa que gestiona el aeropuerto de Roma y otras sociedades vinculadas a la terminal. El asunto del correo era “señalamiento de amenaza”.

Vuelos

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted failed Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and his GOP handlers, arguing on a podcast that he wasn’t «in tune» with the working-class people of the state.

Biotech entrepreneur Ramaswamy lost his scandal-plagued race to Democratic candidate Amy Acton by 7.9 percentage points. Despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement and guidance from Vice President JD Vance’s top advisers, Ramaswamy lost amid a «blue wave» that produced major Democratic upsets across the country. The midterm elections were widely viewed as a referendum on Trump’s presidency.

But DeSantis, who ran for president in 2024 and is term-limited after 2026, shared on the Sage Steele Show that Ramaswamy bore some responsibility for his loss.

«I don’t know why they would have pushed him to be the candidate there. Oh, my mom’s from Youngstown. Ohio is a working class state, very blue collar. You know Vivek, he’s like a tech guy,» DeSantis said.

RAMASWAMY OUTLINES KEY CONTRASTS WITH DEM OPPONENT LESS THAN 100 DAYS OUT FROM KEY GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION

Ramaswamy, who previously ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is the founder of biotech company Roivant Sciences and anti-ESG investment firm Strive Asset Management. He also briefly co-led President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency with Elon Musk.

He was warmly embraced by Trump, who endorsed him the same day Ramaswamy announced his candidacy. Trump had previously encouraged Ramaswamy to consider seeking Vance’s former Senate seat. Ramaswamy and Vance have known each other since their time at Yale Law School.

DeSantis criticized Ramaswamy’s support for a merit-based H-1B visa system, arguing that it likely further distanced him from Ohio’s blue-collar voters. Ramaswamy had said the current lottery-based system should be «gutted.»

‘He wants to bring in foreign workers on visas. That is not the type of person that’s going to sell.» DeSantis said.

Ramaswamy’s own companies have used the H-1B program, with Roivant Sciences having 29 H-1B applications approved between 2018 and 2023.

Meanwhile, Strive Asset Management, the investment firm he co-founded, moved its headquarters from Columbus to Dallas in 2025, months before Ramaswamy launched his campaign for Ohio governor. Ramaswamy said he was no longer involved in the company’s operations, but remained a major shareholder.

VOTER POLL: 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS USHER IN A BLUE WAVE AS DEMOCRATS WIN CONTROL OF CONGRESS

«And I know he shot himself in the foot,» DeSantis said. «I know he did a lot of other stuff to make it a real landslide against him. But even with that, it’s like you know you got to meet the voters where they are on some of this stuff,» DeSantis said. «I think we would have done better in Ohio had we had a candidate that was more representative or more in tune with the interests of kind of these blue collar people that make the backbone of Ohio.»

Just weeks before the election, Ramaswamy’s campaign drew bipartisan outrage for using Democratic Gov.-elect Amy Acton’s estranged mother in an attack ad that called the Democratic candidate a «liar» and disputed her account of childhood poverty and homelessness.

The ad omitted that Acton had not seen or spoken to her mother since age 12, when her stepfather was arrested on charges of raping her. He pleaded not guilty but fled the area before trial, and court records show authorities continued seeking his arrest for years. Acton’s brother has said their mother remained married to him until his death in 2004.

Ramaswamy’s loss, alongside Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jon Husted’s loss to Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown by 4.9 percentage points, came just two years after Trump won the state by 11.2 percentage points.

DESANTIS CALLS GOP MIDTERM LOSSES ‘EXTINCTION-LEVEL EVENT’ — AND EXPLAINS WHY FLORIDA SURVIVED

In addition to criticizing Ramaswamy, DeSantis took aim at Congress, saying Republicans are now on the «defensive» and faulting lawmakers for failing to codify Trump’s executive orders into law.

«Last night’s elections did not only kneecap the last two years of the Trump administration, it basically ensures the four years after that are going to either be Democrat years where they have a trifecta or where you have a Republican president that is hemmed in and limited,» DeSantis said.

DeSantis also pushed back against any 2028 speculation.

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«The only way that I would run for any office is if you can actually deliver big results,» DeSantis said. «I don’t want to just be a timepiece where I just sit there like a potted plant.»

Digital reached out to Ramaswamy for comment.

ron desantis, vivek ramaswamy, donald trump, jd vance, gubernatorial, politics