The Department of Justice on Thursday escalated its lawsuit targeting potential certification of the result of Alaska's Senate election, which it argues could be tainted by the candidacy of a man with the same name as incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

The DOJ filed an amended version of its original complaint to add a new legal claim and details from Wednesday's New York Times article detailing alleged efforts by the people in the campaign of Democratic nominee Mary Peltola to recruit a retired schoolteacher named Dan J. Sullivan into the race.

The amended complaint in Anchorage federal court suggests that Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee misled Judge Sharon Gleason by saying in recent court filings they lacked knowledge about why the retiree Sullivan entered the race earlier this year.

The amended suit also notes that Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, late Wednesday ordered the state Department of Public Safety to investigate whether the alleged recruitment of the retired teacher violated criminal or civil laws. Dunleavy cited the Times' report as the reason for that probe.

"The New York Times has reported that Alaskans For Mary and the DSCC were well aware of the purposes of Daniel J. Sullivan's candidacy: they orchestrated his sham campaign for the purpose of misleading Alaskan voters and getting Peltola elected," the DOJ said in its amended complaint.

The DOJ, in a separate filing Thursday, said that the filing of the amended complaint with the new claim under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution means that motions to dismiss the case by the state, Peltola's campaign, the DSCC and others are now moot. The DOJ cited precedent in the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for that argument.

Gleason had given the DOJ until 5 p.m. Alaska Time Thursday to respond to the motions to dismiss, which have asked her to toss out the DOJ's original complaint before Election Day, Nov. 3.

The judge has yet to rule whether the dismissal motions are now moot.

Later Thursday, Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher and other state election boards blasted the DOJ in a motion asking Gleason to expedite consideration of a motion to dismiss the amended complaint.

"Rather than filing a substantive opposition to the Division's motion to dismiss, the United States has filed an amended complaint adding a second—but equally meritless— count (relying on the same underlying legal theory) and then opposed the Division's motion on the ground that it has been mooted by the amended complaint," the motion said.

"In the context of these expedited proceedings, the Court should not tolerate this gamesmanship," the motion said.

Peltola's campaign and the DSCC, in a subsequent motion to dismiss late Thursday, scoffed at the DOJ's new complaint and claim that it misled Gleason.

"In the portion of the proposed answer DOJ cites, Alaskans for Mary and DSCC stated that they did not have knowledge or information sufficient to admit or deny an allegation about Daniel J. Sullivan's mental state — whether he filed to run 'with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot's fairness or neutrality,' " the campaign and DSCC said in the motion.

"The only one who could possibly know Daniel J. Sullivan's true reasons for filing as a candidate is Daniel J. Sullivan, and Alaskans for Mary and DSCC's statement that they could not admit or deny that allegation was entirely proper."

"The Court should dismiss the Amended Complaint, with prejudice, before election
day," the motion said.

"DOJ's choice to file the Amended Complaint, which adds nothing of substance to the original complaint, is a transparent attempt to keep this case alive for a few more days to cast a pall over the upcoming election and let the federal government continue to interfere in Alaska's elections."

The DOJ's lawsuit, originally filed on Oct. 23, seeks to block the state from immediately certifying any Senate election result "that may be impacted by voter confusion ... pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan."

President Donald Trump has said he ordered the DOJ to file the suit.

The political stakes in the Alaska Senate race are potentially momentous. The winner could determine the power balance in the Senate, where Republicans hold a six-vote majority.

The new DOJ filings came as NBC News reported that the department "has issued at least three dozen new subpoenas and document preservation requests" to Peltola's campaign offices and those of the former schoolteacher Sullivan.

Peltola's campaign and the DSCC, which have previously denied involvement in the retiree Sullivan's campaign to CNBC, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the amended DOJ suit.

Peltola's campaign, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday in response to Dunleavy's announcement, said, "Mary got in this race because Alaskans deserve a champion who is fighting to lower their costs and put Alaska first, and no tweet or threat from any politician will keep her away from that fight."

"The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign," the campaign said.

Trump, before flying to South Carolina for a campaign rally Thursday morning, was asked by a reporter whether Senate Republicans should try to block Peltola from taking the seat in January if she wins Tuesday's election.

"Well, you're going to have to see what happens," Trump said.

"It's hard to believe that she can even be allowed to run. Frankly, I don't know how you can allow somebody like that to run," the president said.

Trump said the retired teacher Sullivan "was just put there as a fraud."

"But people aren't going to know that, so nobody's going to know what to do," Trump said.

Both Peltola's campaign and the DSCC have argued that Trump and other Republicans are being hypocritical in their claims about the Senate race.

"Republicans have a long history of recruiting and propping up candidates in an attempt to boost their own campaigns — including recruiting a prisoner with a New York address to run against Mary Peltola and spending nearly half a million dollars to secure a spot on the ballot in Alaska for an Arizona resident in the Senate race this cycle," a DSCC spokesperson said Wednesday.

The DSCC pointed to instances of Republicans promoting third-party and dark horse candidates in the current election cycle and past ones to increase chances of a GOP candidate winning a race.

Alaska election officials in a court filing have said the Division of Elections "has taken significant steps to distinguish" between the two Sullivans on the ballot, "so that voters can easily determine which candidate is which."

The retired teacher's name on the ballot is spelled out "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." with no other words next to it.

Directly below his name, Sen. Sullivan is listed as "Sullivan, Dan. S." with the words "Registered Republican, incumbent" next to his name in parentheses.

Alaska election officials said in their court filing that "the United States lacks authority to intervene in state elections at all, much less in support of a favored candidate."