Democratic attorney and Trump foe Marc Elias is a target of DOJ's Alaska ballot investigation, sources say - CBS News

Marc Elias, a longtime Democratic attorney and vocal opponent of the Trump administration, is a target in the Justice Department's criminal investigation into whether Democrats sought to confuse voters in Alaska by recruiting a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, according to a law enforcement official and a second source familiar with the matter.

Elias is just one of a number of individuals who received either target letters, preservation letters or grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department in connection with the investigation, which is being led by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alaska and also involves prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division's criminal section, multiple sources said.

Approximately 20 target and preservation letters have been issued to date in the probe. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, meanwhile, has separately received a grand jury subpoena, a law enforcement source told CBS News.

CBS News has reached out to the DSCC for comment.

President Trump in recent days has made public statements denouncing Elias on social media and calling for his prosecution.

"No one should be surprised that President Trump's Department is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day," Elias said in a statement to CBS News.

"This administration has repeatedly weaponized the DOJ against the President's political enemies despite zero evidence of wrongdoing, and we are the latest targets."

He added that his firm, Elias Law Group, "proudly" counts itself among Mr. Trump's political enemies and said they are "proud" to represent Democratic campaigns and progressive groups that fight back against his administration.

"We will not be intimidated by a sham investigation," he said. "We are going to keep working around the clock to support our clients and make sure President Trump and his party enjoy a well-deserved beating at the ballot box."

Federal prosecutors have not articulated what crimes they are investigating.

Last week, Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, suggested during an appearance on Fox News that they could investigate violations of 18 USC 241 — a civil rights statute that makes it unlawful for two or more people to conspire to threaten or intimidate anyone freely exercising their constitutional or federal rights.

The timing of the letters and subpoenas, which were sent out in recent days, appear to run afoul of the Justice Department's own internal guidelines and historic norms limiting investigative steps ahead of a national election.

Brandon Wrobleski, the acting chief of the criminal section at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, has personally sought to recruit assistant U.S. attorneys in Alaska to assist with the probe, but some have declined or expressed discomfort about getting involved, several sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Michael Heyman, the court-appointed U.S. Attorney in Alaska, took the unusual step last week of holding a press conference along with the FBI's special agent in charge in Anchorage in which he publicly disclosed the existence of a criminal investigation into whether operatives for Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola helped recruit independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan in a bid to confuse Republican voters.

The investigation picked up steam shortly after The New York Times reported that Peltola campaign's lawyers, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, were involved in the recruitment effort.

Such ballot-stacking tactics have been used in the past by members of both political parties and, while controversial, are generally not considered illegal. Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied any connection to the effort to put Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot.

"This new information has resulted in a significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska, and I have assigned several attorneys in my office to assist in the matter as well," Heyman said on Friday, adding: "As we speak, law enforcement around the country are taking investigative steps with respect to a criminal investigation on these matters."

Heyman denied that the Justice Department was escalating its investigation or attempting to time its actions around the election, and cited the public reporting by the New York Times as the basis for the increased activity.