00:02Attorney General Todd Blanch is defending the Trump administration's lawsuit over Alaska's
00:07Senate race and pushing back on suggestions the president is trying to interfere with the election.
00:12The Justice Department wants to stop Alaska from certifying Senate election results that may have
00:17been affected by voter confusion. And the reason? Two candidates with nearly identical names.
00:24Republican Senator Dan Sullivan is running for re-election against Democrat Mary Peltola.
00:29But there's also Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who says he's running on his own and isn't
00:36trying to confuse voters. Republicans argue he could take away votes from the senator.
00:41On CNN Sunday, Blanch was pressed on whether the Justice Department had identified an actual crime.
00:47It could be a crime, but the real wrong here is that Alaskans are going to be confused and will
00:52not have their vote heard. So an Alaskan intends to vote for one candidate but is confused because
00:57of the second candidate with exactly the same name who's voted Democrat his entire life,
01:03who donated money to the other Democrat opponent, is running.
01:07Alaska's courts have already ruled both Sullivans can appear on the ballot,
01:10and the state has distinguished them, identifying the senator as a Republican and the incumbent.
01:16Alaska's other Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says the Justice Department should never have filed
01:22the lawsuit, writing on X, quote, Alaskans don't need any help voting. Trump, who says he ordered
01:28the legal challenge, defended it again Sunday. On his own, Dan Sullivan would win easily, but they've,
01:33the Democrats have put another guy named Dan Sullivan, in this case, Daniel Sullivan,
01:38on the ballot. And that's very unfair. That's just outright cheating. So we're before the court to see
01:46what you can do. But people are totally confused. They shouldn't be confused when voting. Peltola,
01:51who's trying to flip the seat, says the administration is distracting from the issues voters care about
01:56and is asking a federal judge to throw out the lawsuit. I feel like this is yet another diversion
02:02from the issue that Alaskans want to talk about, which is affordability. This is exact kind of corruption
02:10Alaskans are tired of. And, you know, I think this is a perfect example, 11 days out from the election,
02:18of corruption and desperation, honestly. The Justice Department hasn't explained
02:23how it would determine which Sullivan a voter meant to support since ballots are secret.
