With the campaign for Congress entering its last weekend before the November 3 midterms, the Department of Justice accelerated a criminal investigation in Alaska, according to a Reuters report published by Internazionale.

The probe follows reports that aides to Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola recruited a retired schoolteacher from a remote fishing village to run under the same name as Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan.

Peltola has denied knowing about any such effort, and the retired teacher has denied coordinating with her campaign.

The federal government did not stop at a criminal probe: acting on a civil lawsuit that President Donald Trump said he instigated, the DOJ filed motions to block Alaska from certifying the Senate results if Sullivan loses the close race, which also features nonpartisan candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. Reuters reports that US Attorney Michael Heyman labeled the second Sullivan a 'sham candidate' and said FBI resources surged after a New York Times article on the recruitment effort.

A Brennan Center official told Reuters the tactics echo election deniers in 2020, aimed at sowing uncertainty and pressure on state officials.

The Alaska fight unfolds against an extraordinary turnout backdrop. According to Reuters, more than 49 million Americans had already cast ballots in person or by mail, a record for a midterm election, up from nearly 46 million before Election Day in 2022.

The administration has also sued California to block counting ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters it alleged could be noncitizens, and has sued roughly 30 states and the District of Columbia seeking unredacted voter rolls.

A federal judge ordered the DOJ to stop threatening California officials. Still, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found 76% of voters confident their ballots will be counted accurately.

Alaska is one of 35 Senate races that will set the tone for Trump's final two years in office, and Reuters notes a Democratic victory in either chamber could bring congressional investigations of an administration that has enjoyed largely compliant Republican majorities.

The House map is equally tight: ABC News reports 16 House races are rated tossups, and Democrats must net at least a three-seat gain to take control, with contested seats from Alabama's redrawn 2nd District to incumbents like Michigan's Bill Huizenga.

Trump blitzed multiple states over the past month and returns to the trail Sunday in Kansas and Iowa.