So why is Sen. Dan Sullivan unwilling to add his name to that simple declaration supporting the orderly and peaceful transition of power and the election of Joe Biden as president?

For the past four years, Sullivan has refused to criticize Donald Trump, and he’s not about to start now, with Trump controlling the Republican Party.

Sullivan, a Semper Fidelis follower for Trump, should have signed that statement with Murkowski. That he refused to do so is a disgrace. He is contributing to a dangerous situation that puts the country at risk by promoting false claims that the election was stolen from Trump.

That Sullivan has nothing of substance to say to Alaskans is in keeping with his practice of keeping quiet in the corner for as long as possible, only sometimes allowing his underlings to make mealy-mouthed statements of inconsequence on contentious issues.

Last summer, he claimed he hadn’t seen the Trump-Biden debate in which Trump had refused to condemn white supremacy.

“I’m not commenting. I didn’t see the debate,” Sullivan said to a CNN reporter, walking into an elevator and then staring silently at the reporter for 7-8 seconds before the door closed.

Sullivan has made it a priority in the Senate to say nothing about the many ways in which Trump has damaged the nation by always putting Trump’s selfish interests above the national interest.

Sullivan is silent about Trump’s brazen attempt Saturday to commit election fraud in Georgia, with the president pressuring the secretary of state to give him the election. “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said.

Amanda Coyne, who gets about $158,000 a year from the government to put words in Sullivan’s mouth, was asked by the Daily News-Miner to say something Saturday about the electoral college. Apparently Sullivan’s office is so busy preparing for the coming Sullivan denunciations of federal overreach by Biden, that there were no words to be found about the attempted coup by Cruz and Co.

“Sullivan aide Amanda Coyne wrote in response to an email inquiry from the Daily News-Miner on Saturday that Sullivan ‘stands by’ his Dec. 14 statement about that day’s casting of votes by the Electoral College,” the News-Miner said.

Sullivan made no statement to Alaskans, but he mentioned to Politico that the coup is “very dubious.”

That’s all he’s got to say about the effort to overturn the will of the voters? Not good enough.

At a minimum, Sullivan could quote Sen. Mitt Romney: “My fellow Senator Ted Cruz and the co-signers of his statement argue that rejection of electors or an election audit directed by Congress would restore trust in the election. Nonsense. This argument ignores the widely perceived reality that Congress is an overwhelmingly partisan body; the American people wisely place greater trust in the federal courts where judges serve for life. Members of Congress who would substitute their own partisan judgment for that of the courts do not enhance public trust, they imperil it."

Or Sullivan could quote Murkowski and the nine other senators from both parties: "The voters have spoken, and Congress must now fulfill its responsibility to certify the election results. In two weeks, we will begin working with our colleagues and the new Administration on bipartisan, common sense solutions to the enormous challenges facing our country. It is time to move forward."

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