In a laughable lawsuit, Trump’s DOJ makes fools of themselves again.
Unusual and Ridiculous Lawsuit
The New York Times reports Justice Dept. Moves to Block Certification of Alaska Senate Race Results if Republican Loses
The Trump administration asked a federal court on Friday to block certification of the Senate election in Alaska if the Republican incumbent narrowly loses, a highly unusual move that signaled an effort to potentially intervene in the outcome.
The Justice Department, in a court filing, argued that confusion over another candidate on the ballot with a name very similar to that of the incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan, could taint the election result. The ballot includes Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., another Republican, though the senator’s line on the state ballot notes that he is the incumbent.
David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonpartisan group that advises election officials, said he could not recall a similar instance in which the federal government had sought to block certification of an election, “and certainly not 11 days before an election.” The issue of another candidate with a similar name has already been addressed by state officials, he said.
“D.O.J. making this claim this late smells of political interference and is against D.O.J. policy,” Mr. Becker said. “The feds have absolutely no authority to tell Alaska when and how to certify. The state officials are following Alaska state law, as the Constitution requires.” He said he expected the courts to reject the administration’s lawsuit.
The lawsuit, signed by a senior Justice Department official, Stanley Woodward, argues “there is a realistic chance that, even if a majority of Alaskans wish to vote for Senator Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan’s presence on the ballot will result in a victory for Peltola.”
To guard against voter confusion, the suit argues, Alaska should “not certify any election result that may be impacted by voter confusion.” The possibility of such confusion exists, the suit continued, if “(1) Senator Sullivan does not win the election; and (2) had all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan been cast instead for Senator Sullivan and Alaska’s rank-choice process played out accordingly, Senator Sullivan would have won the election.”
The Justice Department lawsuit argues that if the incumbent Republican loses and it appears he might have won but for the other Mr. Sullivan on the ballot, then the vote should not be certified until “an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan and any further procedures or relief this court deems necessary and appropriate.” It is unclear how such an investigation would work, since ballots are cast anonymously.
Prayer for Relief
Here’s a Court Listener link to the United States of America v Alaska lawsuit “RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this October 22, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska.”
DOJ Embarrassment
Stanley Woodward and Bryan Wilson signed this frivolous lawsuit. Someone had to, but it wasn’t Attorney General Todd Blanche.
At what point is integrity more important than keeping a job? Who would want to hire Woodward or Wilson two years from now when they lose their job?
Even if they are retained, why would anyone want this embarrassment on their resume?
This is slam dunk legal idiocy, in terms of merit. The attorneys who signed this cannot be stupid enough to think they have a winning lawsuit.
Politically speaking, this is a prayer to get out the vote maneuver. But It won’t work.
Alaska Polls Used by Nate Silver
In four consecutive polls since October, Democrat Mary Peltola had a two to seven point lead over incumbent Dan Sullivan.
Polymarket vs Nate Silver
Nate Silver is too low at 62.8 percent for Peltola, but way too high on Democrats’ chances of winning Iowa which I will discuss shortly.
To Hell with Politics Put Alaska First
“To Hell with Politics Put Alaska First” is one hell of a campaign slogan. And it’s Peltola’s.
Here’s another “Mary Peltola | Fish, Family, Freedom.”
What’s Sullivan got?
Can a Democrat Win the Alaska Senate Race?
On September 18, I addressed the question Can a Democrat Win the Alaska Senate Race?
Yes. It’s what I expect. Let’s discuss why.
For more details, click the above link.
In addition to “Fish, Family, Freedom“, Peltola is pro-energy. It’s hard to call her a liberal Democrat.
People who think Alaska will go red just because that’s what Alaska generally does are going to be on the wrong end of the bet.
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I am confident of North Carolina, Alaska, and Ohio. It only takes one more to win the senate with Texas likely.
A Republican blood bath is on the way. All that remains to be seen is how bloody it gets.
“A Fine, Deliberately Engineered Mess” by Jim Kunstler is an interesting read.
Bad news from Brazil today. I hope the sanity cycle hasn’t already peaked.
Let’s see the federal judge rule that the USA lacks standing.
It’s not a good look for the democrats. I would hate for them to lose because of it. I think Hillary made a mistake biasing the primary system back in 2016. Think that may have cost her votes in the end.
I am moving to Alaska and registering as a demoncrat and legally changing my name to Mary Petlola. I am going to set up multiple fund raising websites and see if I can get Actblue credit card donations of under $25 from people on social security hundreds of times. My new legal retirement scheme. Like those apples.
Butterfly ballot confusion in FL you say? Then Gore must be made President immediately.
with the decisions coming down from donald’s handmaids of the supreme court that last few years……….i would NOT rule out anything. just ponder how the JAN 6 attempted coup by Donald went unpunished. i’d suggest it is probable the CIA / Mossad epstein honey pot, under age rape, black mail videos………have a great deal with the fact Donald was not locked up. so many powerful blue and red uniparty donors, puppeteers, and even the hum drum politicians on those tapes. bill clinton for sure.
Might be your best comment of all time.
thanks.
Where’s PaPaDave for some analysis on the damage to the Saudi oil fields?
Will oil prices continue to spiral upwards?
It has been said that the House of Saud Monarchy rides a thin line when it comes to keeping the various religious factions from open revolution. With oil revenues reduced, bombs going off and drone attacks in major cities, the potential for a serious destabilization exists.
The population must be wondering how the alliance with the U.S. is not protecting their cities and oil infrastructure from attack. They have invested billions in our military technology and it is not working as well as advertised.
Any thing can happen…
My understanding was, the whole price structure with the Saudis (and the so-called petro-dollar) was affected by our security guarantees from many years back, notably backed in Desert Storm. Suddenly Trump said no. I imagine this reminds much of the world of our pullbacks from Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Meanwhile though, I think the Saudis spent lavishly n weapons systems, but are they really battle-ready? The history with the Houthis in the field suggests no. I doubt France or Pakistan would have been their first choice for military backup.
Kind of reminds me of how the Afghan government folded like a styrofoam cup when the Taliban came calling.
the us military on the gulf states was there to protect the slaves from bangladesh…….who work the oil fields and as house maids and cooks……..from uprising and slitting the throats of the saudi princelings someday. the saudi people are all welfare queens. now the good ole USA has taken up the stakes in our tents and gone. it is a powder keg, no doubt about it. my family made big bucks doing financial work for the shah of iran from the 50s to late 70s revolution. they play hardball over there. the shah was shocked and pissed old dad didn’t want to be his fulltime employee on wall street. my dad was too smart for that. he had many big time clients whose names adorn the banks. mr. merrill of merrill lynch for instance. it still baffles me how naive so many amerikans really are. as to how the world works. it ain’t pretty. never was.
The Saudis are careful to keep the military and security services in the hands of family loyalists.
(This is also why they are so famously incompetent, as they are chosen solely on the basis of loyalty and not skills. In fact, a conspicuously clueful general or police commander is dangerous.)
right and wrong. the us military was there to do the real protection……to insure compliance by the gulf state puppets. petro dollar hegemony and much more. persian and russian offshore MICC bases to keep the empire ruling the area………….seems a little shaky as we just high tailed it. for now. i think trump will do a land based invasion of iran before he’s done. he’s as dumb as napoleon and hitler. the other suicide narcissists………
They plan to appeal to the supreme court which is giving everything to the rnc
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jackson-publicly-breaks-supreme-court-justices-side-gop-last-minute-voter-id-fight
Is there a theory that some voters will be 1 wrong sullivan 2 peltola 3 real sullivan
Don’t they do this with Alaska ballots all the time – find someone with the same name as a candidate and get them on the ballot to confuse people? I agree that the notation “incumbent” should be clear enough. Besides, as long as the ballot access requirements have been met, what can you do about it? I’m surprised both parties don’t try this in other locations. Republicans are more vulnerable to it, since – on average – they have WASPier, more common names.
First off, why is the DOJ (Trump’s law firm) getting involved? Secondly, would this mean that political candidates with a common last name, say Smith or Jones, that happens to match the last name of their opponent, are defacto treated differently?
Third, running a ghost candidate is a chapter from the Trump GOP Playbook, like they did in FL where they paid a man with the same last name as the Democrat (Rodriguez) to run as an independent (he was auto parts dealer). Trump thinks everyone is slimy like him.
in amerikan politics they are.
He probably knows it’s gonna fail, but he also knows he can use it to manipulate stupid people into another January 6 tantrum.
Which won’t work either, but will result in property damage, injuries, convictions, and a few deaths.
Pending this midterm, anything that gets Trump’s loyalists riled up, energized, and out to vote, will be tried. It is a PR thing. If it is unsuccessful later, what does he care? We pick up the dinner check, regardless.
His loyalists have aged out by now.
Irrelevant.
He’s gonna pay every convicted rioter a million dollars each.
No standing not to mention it has been litigated and very well publicized in AK
An alaska dem and a new york dem are two different things
Trump was a NY Democrat
the idiots in flyover country keep forgetting Trump is a typical NYC democrat. his father and he had to pay the piper to get stuff done. i really LOL at folks that don’t get the whole uniparty flim flam. it’s pro wrestling. makes me LOL to know how many naive people go cradle to grave believing in the US empire and the whole BS taught in public schools………..past century.
Toughest hippies I ever met were up there.
Yup.
Greennecks! I’ve met a couple of them from up there. Tough outdoorsmen!
what the devil does tough mean? they like the smell of other men? reminds me of the old monty python jingle. “i’m a lumberjack and i’m ok……..”.
Typical bully tactics by major parties like the pubs in Texas.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/26/republicans-libertarians-ballot-texas-november/
“Republican effort to remove Libertarians from November ballot rejected by Texas Supreme Court”
These current DOJ guys are the epitome of short-term thinking at this point. It’s just one hail mary after another. I’m looking forward to the other side of this election.
No surprise given taco’s mentality and willingness to break all the rules and laws to get what he wants (assuming he knows what that is).
Wonder if that is the plan? Not being the political party in power entering the Second (Global) Great Depression. Of course it’s good cover to eventually pull out of or remain in Iran with the Democrats taking control as expect they will receive the same marching orders.
My take is trump will walk away at some point and blame the dems.
He won’t walk away.
But he will blame the Dems for everything that happens in his final 2 years because they will control both houses.
He can try, but if he was going to suddenly become politically astute, shouldn’t he have started by now? What great idea will the Democrats stymie him on, when he hasn’t had one in years?
He blames them already. Logic doesn’t have to enter into it at all when your audience has the collective intelligence of a damp sponge.
His problem is that he has to hog the spotlight constantly with ever more incompetent and outlandish ideas.
By 2028, he will be the most reviled politician in U.S. history.
Trump will never walk away. His ego will not let him.
I am so hoping for video of them dragging him away, screeching and pooping. I’d like that even more than hearing he was dead… but either way, it will be a day of celebration!
“A Republican blood bath is on the way. All that remains to be seen is how bloody it gets.”
Brent at $117 today. Time to sell more calls. Lol.
It’s funny that the lawsuit states “if Sullivan loses” and if he wins there was no issue at all. What a bunch of dumb@sses.
Toddlers ruling toddlers toddler-style.
Excellent catch.