Politics & Law
NewsOnScale Staff
October 24, 2026
On October 23, 2026, ten days before the November 3 midterm elections, President Donald Trump stood at a campaign rally in Fort Myers, Florida and confirmed that he personally directed the United States Department of Justice to file a preemptive lawsuit to block certification of Alaska's Senate election results — if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses.
"Well, I'm one that said, 'Do it,'" Trump told the crowd.
He was not speaking hypothetically. The DOJ had already filed the lawsuit on October 22. Trump was taking credit for ordering it.
What is happening in Alaska
Alaska's Senate race pits Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan against Democrat Mary Peltola. The race is currently rated a toss-up by Cook Political Report. A third candidate — Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired elementary school teacher from Petersburg, Alaska — is also on the ballot.
Both men share the same last name. Both filed as Republicans. The similarity ends there.
Alaska's own Division of Elections ruled in June that Daniel J. Sullivan was ineligible as a candidate, finding that his filing was "for the purpose of confusing or misleading voters." He was nonetheless allowed to remain on the August primary ballot, where he received 2.5% of the total vote.
The Trump DOJ's lawsuit argues that the presence of a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot could confuse voters and requests that certification of the election be delayed until investigators can determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were intended for Senator Dan S. Sullivan.
What Trump is actually doing
Set aside the stated rationale for a moment and read what this action actually is:
A sitting president, ten days before a midterm election, admitted he personally ordered his Justice Department to file a lawsuit that would block certification of a Senate seat — but only if his party's candidate loses.
Not to protect voters. Not to investigate fraud after it occurs. Not to respond to any documented irregularity. Preemptively. Before a single vote is cast. Before a single result is certified. Before any harm has occurred.
The condition that triggers the lawsuit is not voter confusion. The condition is Republican loss.
If Dan S. Sullivan wins on November 3 the DOJ lawsuit becomes irrelevant. If Dan S. Sullivan loses the DOJ lawsuit kicks in and blocks certification.
This is not election protection. This is a predetermined legal mechanism to override an election result the president doesn't want.
What the Constitution says
The Constitution vests the power to conduct elections in the states. Federal courts can intervene when constitutional rights are violated. They cannot intervene preemptively to delay certification of results based on hypothetical outcomes that haven't occurred.
The DOJ's own guidelines prohibit taking overt investigative steps within 60 days of an election to avoid the appearance of using federal law enforcement to influence electoral outcomes. The Alaska lawsuit was filed 12 days before the election.
When Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked whether those guidelines were considered before filing the lawsuit he did not answer directly.
The selective concern for voter confusion
The Trump administration has expressed no similar concern about voter confusion in any other race in any other state. No DOJ lawsuit has been filed preemptively in any other close Senate race where a Republican might lose.
The concern is not voter confusion. The concern is this specific Senate seat, this specific Republican incumbent, and this specific outcome.
Alaska's own election officials — the people actually responsible for running the election — have not requested federal intervention. The state's Division of Elections managed the primary. The candidates were on the ballot. The voters of Alaska are capable of reading a ballot.
The federal government has decided otherwise — but only if the result goes the wrong way.
What this looks like from the outside
A declared 2028 presidential candidate who has had three campaign accounts suppressed on X, been denied a bank account by 21 federally regulated financial institutions, had biometric data collected by a federal lawsuit defendant during active litigation, and watched his federal complaint sit unacknowledged on PACER while the FEC sent him a late filing notice — is watching the same administration that ignored documented election interference against him use the Department of Justice to preemptively block an election result it doesn't like.
The law applies differently depending on who it's applied to.
That is not a conspiracy theory. The President of the United States said it out loud at a campaign rally in Fort Myers, Florida on October 23, 2026.
"Well, I'm one that said, 'Do it.'"
NewsOnScale is owned by AMILLI AI, Corp., founded by JJ Johnson. JJ Johnson is a declared 2028 presidential candidate. FEC filing: JJJOHNSON2028.