Fulton County officials will appear before a federal judge on Friday seeking an order for the FBI to return ballots and other election materials seized from a warehouse near Atlanta in January. U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee scheduled the hearing after mediation between the county and the Justice Department failed to produce an agreement.
The January 28 seizure targeted Georgia's most populous county, which includes most of Atlanta and has been at the center of unfounded claims by former President Donald Trump and his allies that widespread election fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election. Georgia's votes were counted three times in 2020, including once by hand, and each count affirmed Democrat Joe Biden's win.
What the Right Is Saying
Justice Department attorneys have defended the seizure, arguing that preparing a detailed affidavit and presenting it to a judge 'is the exact opposite of callous disregard' for constitutional rights. The department stated that Fulton County officials' goal 'to disrupt an ongoing federal criminal investigation is clear.'
The Justice Department said it is investigating 'irregularities that occurred during the 2020 presidential election in the County' and identified two laws that might have been violated. One requires election records to be maintained for 22 months, while the other prohibits procuring, casting or tabulating false, fictitious or fraudulent ballots.
Federal government lawyers rejected the idea that the FBI agent who wrote the affidavit 'intentionally or recklessly misled' the judge, writing that 'the supposed misrepresentations and omissions flagged by Petitioners are illusory and/or immaterial.' The department also noted that a federal magistrate judge reviewed the FBI affidavit and approved the search warrant.
What the Left Is Saying
Democrats and election officials have expressed alarm at the FBI's actions, arguing they represent an unprecedented use of federal law enforcement to pursue what they see as the president's personal political grievances. Lawyers for Fulton County wrote in a court filing that the seizure demonstrates 'callous disregard' for Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
The county's legal team argued the Justice Department seeks to 'set a precedent that would grant the federal government unchecked power to interfere with the local administration of elections.' They further contends the 'deficiencies' or 'defects' in the county's handling of the 2020 election cited in the FBI affidavit are common human errors that occur without intentional wrongdoing and cannot establish probable cause.
Fulton County submitted a sworn declaration from Ryan Macias, an election technology and security expert who advised the county during the 2020 election. Macias said the affidavit contains 'a multitude of false or misleading statements and omissions' and that investigations by the Georgia secretary of state and independent reviews contradict the core allegations.
What the Numbers Show
The FBI seizure occurred on January 28, targeting materials from the 2020 presidential election. Georgia's votes in that race were counted three times, including once by hand, and each count affirmed Biden's win. The Justice Department has identified two laws that might have been violated: one requiring election records to be maintained for 22 months, and another prohibiting fraudulent ballots.
The affidavit examines whether Fulton County properly retained ballot images, whether some ballots were scanned and counted multiple times, whether unfolded, unmailed ballots were counted as mail-in absentee ballots, and potential irregularities concerning tabulator tapes from ballot scanners. The county previously sought permission from a judge to destroy some election records.
The Bottom Line
Friday's hearing will test whether the Justice Department can sustain its investigation into Fulton County's handling of the 2020 election while facing pushback from local officials who say the investigation lacks probable cause. The case could establish precedent for federal involvement in local election administration. Judge Boulee will hear arguments after the two sides failed to reach agreement during court-ordered mediation. Fulton County sought to have the FBI agent who wrote the affidavit testify, but the judge sided with the federal government and quashed that subpoena.