Alaska Senate Ballot Confusion at Center of Transcript With Attorney General Todd Blanche

Questions about Alaska’s ballot

Margaret Brennan asked Blanche whether he agreed with Harmeet Dhillon’s view that, barring an unexpected contingency, states should continue their usual process for counting and certifying election results. Brennan then asked about a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block Alaska from certifying results if Senator Dan S. Sullivan loses.

Brennan explained that two candidates named Dan Sullivan are on the ballot: incumbent Republican Dan S. Sullivan and challenger Dan J. Sullivan. She showed the ballot, which identifies the incumbent, and asked why that label would not address possible confusion under ranked-choice voting.

Blanche cites federal law

Blanche declined to discuss his communications with the president. Asked who Trump meant when he said, “I’m the one that said do it,” Blanche said Trump had not said it on camera and that it was not Blanche.

Blanche said the Alaska Supreme Court had not considered federal law, which he said was the basis for the federal lawsuit. He argued that the focus should be on a candidate whom, he said, the head of elections had described as running to confuse voters.

Reported inquiry involving Lewandowski

Brennan said CBS was reporting that the Justice Department was looking into allegations that Corey Lewandowski, a former adviser to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, used his position for financial gain. Trump said he wanted his people to be honest and that those who were not should be prosecuted. He added that he did not know about the specific matter, but said he wanted the Justice Department to act if people were dishonest.