FBI carries out search warrant for 2020 election ballots at Atlanta-area website

[ad_1] The FBI on Wednesday searched the election workplace of a Georgia county that has been central to right-wing conspiracy theories over U.S. President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss.

The search at Fulton County's predominant election facility in Union Metropolis sought data associated to the 2020 election. It seemed to be probably the most public step from the Justice Division to pursue Trump's claims of a stolen election, grievances rejected repeatedly by courts and state and federal officers, who discovered no proof of fraud that will have altered the end result.

FBI brokers secured an space across the massive warehouse constructing that homes the county elections hub with yellow tape and might be seen loading containers from the constructing into vehicles. FBI spokesperson Jenna Sellitto confirmed that the containers contained ballots. Among the many 2020 election paperwork sought are ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners used to tally the ballots, digital poll pictures and voter rolls.

An FBI spokesperson mentioned brokers had been "executing a court docket approved legislation enforcement motion" on the county's predominant election workplace in Union Metropolis, simply south of Atlanta. The spokesperson declined to supply any additional data, citing an ongoing matter.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation final week moved to exchange its prime agent in Atlanta, Paul W. Brown, in keeping with individuals aware of the matter who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate a private personnel choice. It was not instantly clear why the transfer, which was not publicized by the FBI, was made or if it had any connection to Wednesday's legislation enforcement exercise.

State and county Democratic officers expressed concern concerning the search and poll seizures, and mentioned they weren't knowledgeable beforehand.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A person in a baseball cap is shown speaking on a phone in a doorway of a building." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/419ab230-4990-4848-9b3d-63c4fb5a376a,1769688964948/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4354%2C2944%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/419ab230-4990-4848-9b3d-63c4fb5a376a,1769688964948/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4354%2C2944%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/419ab230-4990-4848-9b3d-63c4fb5a376a,1769688964948/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4354%2C2944%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/419ab230-4990-4848-9b3d-63c4fb5a376a,1769688964948/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4354%2C2944%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.4789402173913044" data-cy="image-img"/> Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. director of nationwide intelligence, speaks on the telephone Wednesday after the FBI executed a search warrant in Union Metropolis, Ga. The search seemed to be probably the most public step from the Justice Division to pursue President Donald Trump's claims of a stolen 2020 election. (Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters) "For the lifetime of me, I nonetheless can not perceive the fascination concerning the 2020 election, which occurred six years in the past,” county Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts informed reporters Wednesday night time. "That election is over with. That election has been reviewed. It has been audited, and in each occasion, we get a clear invoice of well being."

The Justice Division had no fast remark. FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and U.S. Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had been seen onsite.

Gabbard's presence angered Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, a number one Democrat on the Senate's intelligence committee. Warner mentioned Gabbard has an obligation to tell that committee of "related nationwide safety issues," and anxious of the likelihood she was collaborating in a "home political stunt designed to legitimize conspiracy theories that undermine our democracy."

Trump centered on Fulton County voting Trump continues to insists that the 2020 election was "rigged," however has by no means defined how the the presidential contest alone was corrupted on a day the place tons of of different federal, state and county elections befell with out main incident. The director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company in his personal administration known as that election "probably the most safe in American historical past," resulting in his firing.

Recounts, evaluations and audits within the battleground states of 2020 all affirmed Joe Biden's victory. Judges, together with some Trump appointed, rejected dozens of his authorized challenges, whereas his lawyer normal on the time, William Barr, later informed a congressional committee that the claims of fraud that affected the end result had been "bullshit."

Trump has for years centered on Fulton, Georgia's most populous county and a Democratic stronghold, as a key instance of what he claims went flawed within the 2020 election. His strain marketing campaign in Georgia included a now-famous telephone name through which he beseeched the secretary of state there, a Republican, to "discover" almost 12,000 votes to beat his deficit to Biden.

Fulton County District Lawyer Fani Willis in August 2023 obtained an indictment towards Trump and 18 others, accusing them of collaborating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally attempt to overturn the leads to Georgia. That case was dismissed in November after courts barred Willis and her workplace from pursuing it due to an "look of impropriety" stemming from a romantic relationship she had with a prosecutor, although Trump's election win in 2024 and a Supreme Courtroom ruling that very same 12 months additionally made the prospect of a trial unlikely.

WATCH | Ex-special counsel testifies about potential Trump election crimes: Trump used 'lies as a weapon' to attempt to retain energy: particular counsel report

Donald Trump engaged in an 'unprecedented legal effort' to 'unlawfully retain energy' after dropping the 2020 election, particular counsel Jack Smith mentioned in a report printed by the U.S. Justice Division.

Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani additionally directed invective at two Black election staff as a part of a debunked conspiracy principle involving a suitcase and ballots. The ladies — who Trump known as "skilled vote scammers" — gained a $148 million US judgment in a civil swimsuit towards Giuliani.

Talking in Davos, Switzerland, final week, Trump promised that "individuals will quickly be prosecuted for what they did," within the 2020 election. Previous presidents sometimes didn't get advance discover from the Justice Deparment of impending prosecutions.

Nevertheless, Trump's need in his second presidency for prosecutions of officers and politicians who've angered him, very similar to his 2020 election protestations, have typically run into roadblocks within the authorized system.

Grand juries in some cases have did not indict, a uncommon prevalence in hearings that happen with out defence attorneys, whereas a choose threw out indictments towards former FBI director James Comey and New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James, in one in all a number of instances through which the courts discovered that Justice Division prosecutors had been improperly appointed.

The Justice Division has additionally obtained pushback from about two-dozen states over requests to hunt voter roll data past what's already publicly accessible.

LISTEN | Lawfare's Ben Wittes: Entrance Burner 26:24 Trump's marketing campaign of authorized revenge

Ongoing civil fits The warrant executed on Wednesday is a legal doc, however the Justice Division final month sued the clerk of the Fulton County superior and Justice of the Peace courts in federal court docket searching for entry to paperwork from the 2020 election within the county.

Che Alexander, the Fulton County clerk, filed a movement to dismiss the swimsuit. The Justice Division grievance says that the aim of its request was "ascertaining Georgia's compliance with numerous federal election legal guidelines."

As nicely, a three-person conservative majority on Georgia's state election board has repeatedly sought to reopen a case alleging wrongdoing by Fulton County in the course of the 2020 election.

The state board despatched subpoenas to the county board for numerous election paperwork final 12 months and once more on Oct. 6, 2025. A combat over the state board's efforts to implement the 2024 subpoena is presently tied up in court docket.

The Justice Division despatched a letter to the county election board Oct. 30 citing the federal Civil Rights Act and asking for all data attentive to the October subpoena from the state election board. Legal professionals for the county election board in response despatched hooked up a letter the clerk despatched to the state board, indicating the knowledge cannot be launched with no court docket order.