"Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can."

According to the New York Times, that was the assignment a staffer on Democrat Mary Peltola's Senate campaign got from top campaign aides.

Picture a Democratic campaign office with a phone book open to the S's, and a staffer working down the list.

Peltola, a former congresswoman, is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The Times reported that Democratic aides tied to her campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senate Democrats' campaign arm, spent months on a "secret plan" to get a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot. They found one: Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher.

People who spoke to the Times on the record said he had no interest in running for office until Democrats gave him one. His name now sits on the ballot right beside the senator's.

If you're an Alaska voter, Democrats were counting on you to check the wrong box.

On October 28, President Trump took to Truth Social. "The Dumocrats are trying to steal this Race by putting a FAKE Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr. on the Ballot," he wrote, calling it "A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC." He said Democrats "illegally searched for, and recruited" a spoiler with the senator's name, and that "Mary Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences."

Then he told reporters what those consequences should be: "I think they should be prosecuted."

That's a different gear from how Washington usually handles a dirty trick. Most politicians would put out a statement about being "deeply concerned," send a fundraising email and move on. Trump said a Democratic scheme to plant a decoy on the ballot and confuse voters belongs in front of a prosecutor.

He's not alone. The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit over the ballot, and a criminal investigation into the Democrats' scheme is picking up speed.

Peltola says she "knew nothing." Her campaign and the DSCC both deny recruiting the second Sullivan, and he says he decided to run on his own.

The Times reporting says otherwise, and the Democrats' denials leave one big question. If there was nothing wrong with finding a second Dan Sullivan, why did Democrats need a months-long secret plan to do it? People don't hide things they're proud of. And if it was something to hide, Trump is right to want prosecutors looking at it.

The media's reaction was predictable. CNN's Dana Bash opened her segment with "Unsurprisingly, he seized on the new reporting," as if the President noticing a Democratic ballot scheme were the real scandal. Trump didn't make any of this up. The New York Times broke the story, and nobody has ever mistaken the Times for a MAGA newsletter.

What really bothers Washington is Trump's insistence that this be treated as more than a clever campaign tactic. For years, Democratic dirty tricks like this have ended with a few cable segments and an "everybody does it" shrug. Trump wants an investigation, and the Justice Department appears to agree.

Whether anyone gets charged is up to prosecutors and, eventually, a court. Trump has already made his position clear: Democrats don't get to win an election by tricking voters into checking the wrong box.

Alaska votes Tuesday. There are two Dan Sullivans on the ballot, and only one of them went looking for the job.