CNN anchor Dana Bash and Attorney General Todd Blanche sparred over a lawsuit filed by the White House to deny certification of Alaska's election results if Republicans lose a key Senate race in the state.
Bash questioned Blanche about the suit during an Oct. 25 one-on-one interview on the Sunday program, "State of the Union."
Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, R-Alaska, is seeking re-election to a third term in his seat against former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat. But Sullivan has trailed the one-term congresswoman in available polling in the race with retired schoolteacher Daniel J. Sullivan's appearance on the ballot.
The Alaska Senate race is one of the nation's most competitive Senate contests and one of seven races in a state Trump won in 2024 now
rated "toss up" by the Cook Political Report.
During Blanche's appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Bash asked him what the crime is in their argument after the lawyer said that Daniel J. Sullivan's sole purpose was to pull votes away from the senator.
"What's the crime? Well it depends. There could be a crime, but the real wrong here is that Alaskans are gonna be confused and will not have their vote heard," Blanche told Bash.
Bash then cited the first clause of Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution, which outlines guidelines for congressional elections, and noted that the Alaskan Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that Daniel J. Sullivan could remain on the ballot.
"Well conveniently, you put up the Constitution on your screen, but you highlighted only the first clause," Blanche said. "Why don't you show the next clause to your viewers which says that Congress is allowed to pass laws to make sure that happens. Put that back up there, and that's exactly what we're doing."
Bash then put the graphic of the Constitution back onscreen and Blanche said, "the second clause says 'but the Congress may at any time by Law' and we have a law and that's the law we're relying on when we filed suit earlier this week."
Blanche also told Bash, "Putting aside whether we're going to win or lose in the courts, putting aside what the Alaskan Supreme Court has done. In our system, we should not have a candidate who has to worry about another candidate being on the ballot for no other reason to confuse voters."
Daniel J. Sullivan changed his party registration between the primary and general elections and is running with no party affiliation.
Bash questions Blanche over potential of another Jan. 6
Bash then asked Blanche about whether Trump was laying the groundwork in Alaska or elsewhere to overturn the election and a result like the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
Blanche chided Bash, laughing, "Oh stop it. You gotta stop it with that! You're not being a real person. Come on, man. That is crazy!"
Blanche then said, in part, "You're saying 'Mr. Attorney General, because the president of the United States wants to stop fraud and confusion in Alaska, is he going to do something crazy?' That is not a real question."
The pair went back and forth about whether it was a fair question by Bash.
The Trump administration previously requested in their suit to prevent the state of Alaska from certifying election results "pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan."
Contributing: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'You gotta stop!' Blanche, CNN's Bash spar in fiery interview
