Talk about modified limited hangouts. Here's Mary Peltola on the campaign trail this summer:

And now that Peltola, her campaign, and Democrat leadership just got exposed for lying and misleading voters by recruiting another Dan Sullivan? Suddenly, it's no biggie. Peltola issued an official denial yesterday, and then modified her response to call it a mere distraction:

Oh yes, let's blame this on the New York Times, that famous bastion of rock-ribbed Republican support. Talk about distractions.

The real Dan Sullivan, the target of this election fraud, pointed out that Peltola has not even apologized for her role in the scheme:

Attorney General Todd Blanche announced yesterday that the Department of Justice would escalate its already-existing investigation into The Dans Sullivan Scheme to include whether the plot – and the coordination behind it – broke federal laws. Blanche may have to wait in line, however, because Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has proposed to grant Peltola her wish from the summer. He ordered a state investigation into potential fraud that may end up having more teeth:

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Alaska's Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday ordered an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign after a New York Times report that people aligned with the campaign helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as her main opponent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Dunleavy said in a post on social media that there had already been a probe by the Alaska Division of Elections, so he was ordering the Department of Public Safety to "investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska's laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted." 

"Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support," Dunleavy wrote. "Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections."

Peltola didn't get distracted so much as to prevent her from lawyering up. Notorious Democrat election attorney Marc Elias announced over the weekend that he agreed to represent Peltola in the DOJ probe, but that was before the NY Times story connected dots all the way up to Peltola herself. Salena Zito offered Elias some sage political advice:

Peltola's allies have insisted that recruiting people with the same name as an opponent to run is not illegal. It's worth noting again, though, that Peltola herself demanded to make this attempt at misleading voters a crime, as the video above shows. But is it already illegal, either in federal or state law?

Jonathan Turley wonders too, and also raises the issue of professional consequences for the lawyers involved:

Peltola is clearly hoping to ride this out for the last week. However, it could snowball legally. The staff was aware of past public denials and the likelihood of an investigation. Indeed, the Justice Department filed to try to address the confusion, but Peltola filed to block the effort and declared in court filings that the allegations were “baseless.”

There may be questions as to whether the lawyers and staff were forthcoming in such filings,

It is not a crime to help engineer decoy candidates, even if it is viewed as the lowest form of dirty politics. Lying about your knowledge or involvement only magnifies the unethical conduct.

However, it is easy to trip a legal wire in such efforts. Campaign filings must be true and correct. Indeed, Elias and the Clinton campaign were later sanctioned for hiding the funding of the infamous Steele dossier as a legal expense. (The Clinton campaign denied such involvement until after the election).

There can be allegations of not only misrepresentations in filings but possible violations in the pressuring of potential witnesses, destruction of evidence, or false statements to federal investigators.

At some point, Turley suggests, the lawyers themselves may have to lawyer up. That will undoubtedly become another "distraction" to Peltola and her allies, who are now left to defend the politically indefensible, even if it may not result in criminal charges. That's not a distraction, however; it is a demonstration of the character of everyone involved, and that includes both Peltola and her fake Dan Sullivan toady.