National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told Fox News he felt vindicated after the Department of Justice reportedly issued dozens of subpoenas in Alaska, arguing that Republicans had warned for months about an alleged Democratic effort to recruit a “decoy” U.S. Senate candidate.
Speaking on “Saturday in America,” Scott said the NRSC identified the alleged scheme early, accusing U.S. Senate candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. of copying the campaign logos, colors and materials of incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
“Absolutely vindicated. We’ve been saying this for months,” Scott said Saturday.
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“The truth is that the fake Dan, the ‘Decoy Dan,’ his one objective is to confuse voters. Number two, if there’s a second point, it’s the collusion that occurred to recruit this candidate. That is a criminal offense. It is immoral, frankly, to lie to the public about who you are, but it is actually illegal to collude with others in order to confuse the voters,” he added.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Alaska Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign, along with senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, were involved in an alleged effort to recruit a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent. The alleged effort was intended to confuse voters and draw support away from Sen. Dan Sullivan, according to the report.
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Peltola said she “knew nothing” about an alleged scheme to recruit a candidate with the same name as her opponent to run in the election. Sen. Dan Sullivan, however, told Fox News she is “still lying.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Peltola’s campaign denied any involvement in the alleged scheme.
“The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign,” the campaign said. “Mary got in this race because Alaskans deserve a champion who is fighting to lower their costs and put Alaska first — and no threats from DC politicians or baseless investigations from a weaponized Department of Justice will keep her away from that fight.”
The two candidates appear on the ballot under similar names. The incumbent Republican senator is listed as “Sullivan, Dan S.,” while Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher running without party affiliation, is listed as “Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.”
In an interview with The Associated Press published in June, Sullivan Jr. denied being a spoiler candidate and said he entered the race independently.
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“Every single piece of his campaign information copied the real Dan Sullivan’s logo, the colors and even the font. He tried to change his middle initial so that he could confuse more voters as if he was the real Dan Sullivan — all that with 30 subpoenas means he could be in serious federal trouble,” Scott said.
Scott also pointed to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings as evidence of what he described as a sham candidacy, arguing that Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. had made little effort to mount a serious campaign for the U.S. Senate seat.
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“On his FEC forms, federal election forms, what does he show? Nothing,” Scott said. “He’s actually done nothing trying to achieve the goal of being the senator. He’s done one thing, which is to put his name on the ballot to confuse the voters.”
Scott also warned that the alleged decoy candidate could face legal consequences if he lies to federal investigators.
“I would be shaking in my boots if I was ‘Decoy Dan,’ and frankly, no one wants to go to jail for something they didn’t do,” Scott said. “So he’d be very careful as he talks to the federal Department of Justice about what happened and what didn’t happen. Lying to the prosecutors — that’s a felony.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.