WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola following a report that her allies secretly recruited candidates, including one with a similar name to Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, to join the state’s Senate race.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Peltola’s team engaged in a broad attempt to peel votes from Sullivan by recruiting spoilers into the race. The plan, dubbed the “ballot composition project,” resulted in the candidacy of retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., the Times reported. Peltola’s campaign has denied any involvement with his campaign.

“I think Dan Sullivan — the fake Dan Sullivan — and Mary Peltola should be, number one they should be taken off the ballot, and number two, they should be prosecuted,” Trump told reporters Wednesday.

There’s no clear legal mechanism for the Democrat’s removal from the race and Trump did not provide direct evidence that Peltola or her campaign advisers broke the law. So called “ballot-stacking” maneuvers are common in U.S. politics and are generally thought to be legal.

In a social media post Wednesday, Trump called the effort “illegal” and said Peltola should “suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done,” including her own exclusion from the race.

Peltola’s campaign in a statement said “No tweet or threat from any DC politician will keep her away” from an agenda of lowering the cost of living for Alaskans. It added that it “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.” The Senate Democrats’ campaign arm has also denied involvement in the candidate recruitment effort.

Trump’s critics have called his attacks an attempt to nullify an election that could decide control of the Senate. Alaska is one of a number of traditionally Republican states with unexpectedly competitive Senate races, in large part thanks to voters’ dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the cost of living.

At Trump’s request, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking to preemptively block the certification of Senate election results in Alaska if Senator Sullivan loses by a close margin, citing the risk of “voter confusion” with two individuals on the ballot having similar names.

The department argued that Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is running as a deliberate spoiler to Senator Sullivan’s reelection campaign.

In a filing Wednesday in federal court in Anchorage, the Justice Department said that in light of the New York Times report, the U.S. intends to quickly seek information from Peltola’s campaign about whether it “attempted to deceive the court by seeking an expedited ruling on a motion to dismiss when the campaign may have been aware of the New York Times reporting before it was published.”

Trump last week said he was very concerned about the race, accusing Democrats of “election interference.”

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(With assistance from Anna Edgerton, Steven T. Dennis, Peter Blumberg, Jordan Fabian and John Harney.)

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