ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The FBI has begun contacting Dan J. Sullivan’s donors with questions about possible deception, as federal authorities step up their investigation into the U.S. Senate candidate in Alaska who shares a name with the outgoing Republican president.
Agents contacted donors in at least two remote communities in Alaska and a few in Massachusetts. An Anchorage-based FBI agent visited a boat dealership in Petersburg, a small fishing community accessible only by air or sea where the candidate lives. The agent left a business card with Charles Flint, who told The Associated Press that he had known Dan J. Sullivan for years as a respected teacher and musician.
The FBI visits came after federal officials confirmed there was a criminal investigation into the candidate. The U.S. Justice Department also sought a court order Friday to isolate some Alaska ballots to investigate possible voter confusion.
READ MORE: Justice Department seeks to segregate Alaska ballots as criminal investigation underway against Senate candidate
Flint contributed $500 over the summer to what he considered a long-shot campaign, saying he knew Dan J. Sullivan would have expenses and respected him for “throwing his hat in the ring.” Flint said the FBI agent asked his son, who works at the dealership, if Flint felt he had been “misled” about which candidate he supported.
“I don’t feel like I was misled at all,” Flint, who was out of town, told the AP in a telephone interview, adding that he had no plans to call the agent but would “let him waste his time trying to find me.”
“I don’t think there’s any confusion,” he said, adding that he intends to put Democrat Mary Peltola first on his ballot, followed by Dan J. Sullivan. “Everyone knows who the incumbent is.”
Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman told reporters in Anchorage that the federal investigation has been underway for several months, but recent revelations by The New York Times that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in the recruitment of retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan have led to a “significant increase in law enforcement resources in Alaska.”
Two different FBI agents were sent to Sitka to conduct a brief interview at another donor’s door. That donor, who asked that his name not be published in light of the ongoing investigation, said agents asked whether the contribution was made to the donor’s intended Sullivan. The conversation lasted about five minutes, the donor told the AP.
The donor said the officers were “scrupulously polite” and stressed the conversation was entirely voluntary.
Another donor, Pat Campbell, of Groton, Mass., said a few FBI agents came to her door Friday and spoke with her husband.
“They said they were with the FBI and were investigating campaign contribution fraud,” Campbell wrote in a text message to AP. “No, we hadn’t been defrauded. We knew who we had contributed to.”
WATCH: Republicans seize controversy in closely watched Senate race in Alaska
These developments come just days before Tuesday’s general election, in a potentially pivotal race in which Peltola, a former congresswoman, is challenging Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
At a campaign rally in Anchorage on Friday, Peltola again denied involvement in any plan to put candidates on the ballot to distract from the incumbent senator.
She said she was “deeply offended” by the allegations, which she called “rubbish” and part of a “smear campaign” aimed at suppressing participation in the run-up to the election.
“I know I can beat Dan Sullivan. I don’t need any help to win this race,” she told a small group of campaign volunteers at an Anchorage aviation museum.
Mustian reported from New York. Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed to this report.
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