WATCH: CNN's Dana Bash, Mark Preston, and Alayna Trenne DEFEND Alaska Democrats and Mary Peltola's campaign after The New York Times bombshell confirms they worked with national Democrats to find another "Dan Sullivan" to run in #AKSen to confuse voters “So, this is not illegal. It is not new” “Listen, two things you said very important. It’s not illegal and it’s not new.” “I use the term dirty tricks intentionally because it’s — it’s not illegal. This is something that — is untoward. It is something that Democrats have tried to do in races where they think it could be to their advantage to run candidates that could siphon votes away from Republicans and Republicans do the same. I mean, just in Alaska alone, Mary Peltola, who’s now on the ballot for the senate, she lost her House race two years ago. On that ballot, there was a candidate who was literally in prison who was reportedly recruited and — and kept on the ballot at the behest of Republicans. There’s a socialist running in Ohio with the hopes of taking votes away from the Democrat, Sherrod Brown. These are dirty tricks. They are legal, dirty tricks. But again, at a time when you have a President and his — supporters, particularly those with very big platforms, trying to undermine the election, and Alaska is a potentially key and even pivotal, pivotal Senate seat that could determine the outcome of the control of the Senate, it’s a big deal.” “It’s absolutely a big deal, and I think there’s no question, despite as you all have pointed out, and I think it’s worth saying, again, this was not illegal, something that [Republicans] are going to blow up.”