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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer requested transcribed interviews Thursday with two people he says may have information about allegations that Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign recruited similarly named challengers to Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska.
The committee’s October 29 announcement identifies Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager, and Jerid Kurtz as the intended interviewees. Comer, a Kentucky Republican, says the committee is investigating whether candidates were recruited with the intent to confuse voters. That is the committee’s allegation, not a finding established by the interview requests.
Voluntary interviews requested for November
In his letter to Rios, Comer requests an in-person transcribed interview on November 5. His letter to Kurtz, identified in the letter as a co-owner of Wingspan Strategies, requests an interview on November 6.
Both letters say the committee would evaluate the use of compulsory process if the recipients do not appear voluntarily. They are requests for interviews, not subpoenas. The announcement and accompanying letters do not report a completed committee finding of wrongdoing or the issuance of subpoenas.
A new congressional step in the Alaska dispute
The new action is a congressional request for testimony. JBizNews earlier carried a separate report about Alaska’s governor ordering a state investigation; that report did not include these interview requests.
For voters, the distinction matters: an investigation seeks evidence and testimony. Today’s committee materials do not establish that the alleged recruitment occurred or that election wrongdoing has been proved.
The committee materials reviewed for this report do not include responses from Rios, Kurtz or Peltola’s campaign. The letters seek testimony about the allegations; they do not establish that either recipient has agreed to appear.
JBizNews Desk | Washington
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