Fulton County Seeks Return of 2020 Election Ballots Seized by FBI

Fulton County, Georgia, is set to request a federal judge to order the return of the ballots from the 2020 election that the FBI seized. This action stems from former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about his loss being caused by widespread voter fraud.

In a hearing scheduled for Friday in federal court in Atlanta, the circumstances surrounding the FBI’s seizure of over 600 boxes of election ballots during a raid on January 28 will be examined.

The fact that Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, was present during the raid raises concerns about how the Trump administration utilized federal law enforcement and intelligence resources in response to his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump has continuously alleged that massive voter fraud influenced the 2020 election results, which has, in turn, stirred questions about election security as the midterms approach.

Fulton County’s legal team has challenged the FBI’s actions in court, asserting that the agency “callously disregarded” the county’s constitutional rights while relying on already debunked allegations.

In their legal filing, Fulton County attorneys noted that despite a long-running investigation into the 2020 election, the FBI “has not been able to identify facts establishing probable cause that anyone committed a crime.”

U.S. District Judge JP Bouley has agreed to consider evidence related to the raid during Friday’s hearing, but he denied the request to have the FBI agent who prepared the affidavit for the search warrant testify.

The Justice Department accuses Fulton County officials of attempting to obstruct an ongoing investigation and suggests that the county lacks the authority to challenge the magistrate judge’s ruling that deemed the search legally valid.

The FBI’s efforts included seizing numerous items related to the 2020 election, like original ballots from an election facility in Union City, Georgia. Allegations pointed to potential issues with the vote, such as missing digital ballot images and absentee ballots that seemed not to be folded correctly.

This probe began following a referral from Kurt Olsen, an attorney who supported Trump’s attempts to overturn the election and was later tasked with examining the voting process.

Prosecutors warned that the actions could breach record-keeping laws and regulations that penalize attempts to deprive citizens of a just election or defraud them.

In court, Fulton County lawyers have claimed that some witnesses interviewed by the FBI, including a Republican member of the Georgia State Board of Elections, may not be trustworthy.

Their assertions seemed to range from simple errors to genuine misunderstandings regarding the election process.

Fulton County has become a focal point for conspiracy theories and fraud claims propagated by Trump and his supporters after the 2020 election, which is quite striking considering it is a Democratic stronghold. Biden’s significant advantage in this area helped to turn Georgia blue, although the state swung back to support Trump in 2024.