A federal court in Georgia unsealed key records related to the FBI’s seizure of 2020 election materials from Fulton County last month, following an emergency lawsuit filed by the county last week that seeks to regain control of thousands of files.
On Jan. 29, the FBI executed a search warrant at a Fulton County elections office, seeking to take ballots as part of an ongoing investigation into the 2020 presidential election.
Last week, Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts and the county’s Board of Registration and Elections sued to compel the return of over 650 boxes containing the 2020 election-related materials, but the case and related filings were initially sealed.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee ordered the court documents in the case to be unsealed by close of business Tuesday, including the county’s motions to return the documents and to unseal the full law enforcement affidavit that served as the legal basis for the raid. That affidavit has not yet been unsealed.
The county asked for the “return of all original seized materials” and asked Boulee for an order instructing the government “to maintain, but not review, any copies of the seized materials until this matter is resolved.”
The FBI’s search warrant for the raid sought “all physical ballots” from the 2020 election in Fulton County, as well as tapes from vote-tabulating machines, ballot images and voter rolls.
According to a copy of the search warrant that was filed in federal court by Fulton County officials in a separate civil matter, the bureau appears to be investigating potential violations of two federal laws.
One of those laws makes it a crime for elections officials to intimidate voters and to deprive them of a fair election by submitting fraudulent ballots or voter registration applications. The other law requires election officials to retain federal election records for 22 months.
The warrant was signed by a federal magistrate judge, which is typical in criminal cases. Authorities must show probable cause to a judge before they sign off on a warrant.
The Justice Department lawyer listed on the search warrant was Thomas Albus, interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. On Tuesday morning, Albus formally filed his name on the court docket in Georgia, indicating he will be leading the Justice Department’s court proceedings in the case. It’s unclear why Albus is leading the case, and not a Justice Department attorney from Georgia.
Fulton County is a key Democratic stronghold in Georgia, and President Trump and his allies’ false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him centered on the election results there. The allegations, all unfounded to date, included claims that there was widespread voter fraud that led to Joe Biden’s narrow win in the state.
In December, the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against the Fulton County clerk of courts, asking a judge to force the handover of the 2020 election-related documents. The department alleged that the county had failed to hand over the material before the lawsuit was filed. The county has moved to dismiss the suit, arguing that the Justice Department did not have a legitimate reason to obtain the records.
