The Justice Department is sharply intensifying efforts to intervene in the midterm elections, goaded by a president unfettered by even the limited restraints of his first term. The next several weeks represent a critical moment for federal law enforcement, a test of whether a department repurposed by President Trump as an instrument of unmediated executive power will be effectively mobilized as a guarantor of his political power. In recent weeks, the department has taken several new steps, including an extraordinary effort to invalidate any potential Democratic victory in the Alaska Senate race, that reflect Mr.
Trump’s growing agitation as his party faces the possibility of losing control of Congress precipitated by his sagging popularity. On Thursday, the department asked a federal court to block certification of the election if the incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan, were to lose narrowly, claiming that the presence of another candidate with a nearly identical full name tainted the election.
The move, the first of its kind in generations, came in response to the president’s rants about the issue, officials said. Hours after the papers were filed, Mr. Trump abandoned any pretext that department officials had acted without his say-so, telling reporters, “I’m the one that said do it.” Mr.
Trump has grown increasingly agitated about the dueling Sullivans, among other election-related grievances. He has demanded the department take legal action, even as some department officials raised concerns about the merits and constitutionality of the case, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution. The episode comes amid the department’s widening push to exclude large batches of mail-in votes on suspicion that some had been cast by noncitizens, despite evidence that such voting is exceedingly rare.
At the same time, Attorney General Todd Blanche has abandoned departmental norms by promoting prosecutions and investigations of politicians, within 60 days of the election. Late Friday, the department escalated the fight, sending letters to local election officials across California demanding that they help identify potential noncitizens on their voter rolls and set aside their ballots. The letters came with a threat.
Those who failed to comply would “risk significant federal scrutiny.” All of this has administration critics, and even some in the department, asking: Just how far are Justice Department leaders willing to go? But election officials from both parties have expressed concerns that it represents a dangerous effort to discredit functional election systems administered by the states. Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee have grown increasingly worried that Mr.
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