Democrats and former officials have accused the department of pursuing a political goal in the guise of a legal one: to publicize a scheme, sordid but not illegal under state law, damaging to Democrats.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice — as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed last week — asked a federal judge to order that state elections officials isolate ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan to investigate potential voter "confusion" with the two-term incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan.