US prosecutors subpoena Alaska candidate before grand jury — Jerusalem Post

US federal prosecutors have ordered Republican candidate Gerald Heikes, who is running for the Senate from Alaska, to appear before a grand jury and provide documents in his possession concerning political groups and other participants in the race. As reported by the Jerusalem Post, citing CNN, the subpoena was issued several days before the midterm elections.

Investigation into spoiler candidates

The subpoena is part of a criminal investigation into possible attempts to recruit spoiler candidates for the race. Investigators are examining whether political figures linked to Democrat Mary Peltola may have been involved, including in a case involving a candidate with the same name as incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.

Peltola denied knowing about any efforts to recruit other candidates. The subpoena, dated the day after The New York Times published a report on Peltola’s campaign’s connection to these efforts, concerns communications with her campaign, several political committees, figures involved with them, and the Elias Law Group legal firm. The document was signed by a senior official from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in Washington, rather than a prosecutor in Alaska. The US Department of Justice declined to comment.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Gerald Heikes’ position

Heikes, a conservative drywall contractor from Palmer, Alaska, told CNN that earlier this year an unfamiliar political operative offered him the chance to run for the Senate. He said he had planned to enter politics even before that meeting and later chose the Senate race. Heikes maintains that he was not recruited as a spoiler candidate, supports Sullivan, and does not know who is behind the spending in support of him.

CNN previously reported that newly created political committees linked to an operative from another state spent millions of dollars on a campaign against Sullivan and in support of Heikes. As of Friday morning, Peltola was leading Sullivan by about 600 votes and had 48.2% in the initial count. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the winner cannot be confirmed until November 18, when election officials count voters’ second preferences. Heikes was running third with about 2% of the vote while about a quarter of ballots had yet to be counted.