What happened?
Federal agents on Wednesday descended on Fulton County’s election operations center to execute what an FBI spokesperson called a “court-authorized activity.” The 600,000-square-foot elections hub in south Fulton is used for voting and county election board meetings.
It also houses documents from 2020, including the physical ballots cast by voters, which have been kept under a court-ordered seal because of pending litigation.
A team of FBI agents scoured the building over the course of several hours. Agents could be seen loading hundreds of boxes into large trucks behind the facility.
Did the FBI have a warrant?
Yes. It was signed by U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Catherine Salinas. A former head of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Salinas has been on the bench since 2015, appointed twice by a panel of U.S. District Court judges.
The federal prosecutor listed on the warrant is Thomas Albus, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. It is unclear why Albus, a recently confirmed appointee of Donald Trump, is involved but Theodore Hertzberg, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, is not named in the document.
What are they looking for?
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
In the warrant, federal officials said they were seeking the following Fulton County records:
- Physical ballots from the 2020 general election, in-person, absentee and other ballots and absentee ballot envelopes.
- Tabulator tapes for every voting machine used.
- Ballot images produced during the original ballot count beginning on Nov. 3, 2020.
- Voter rolls from the 2020 general election from absentee, early voting, in person, and any other voter roll.
What are the alleged crimes?
Two federal statutes are listed in the warrant. One requires that officials maintain election records for 22 months. The other outlaws willfully defrauding voters by counting ballots known to be fraudulent. It’s notable that the election was more than five years ago, which would put it outside the five-year statute of limitations which covers most federal crimes.
Why was Tulsi Gabbard there?
Federal officials informed reporters at the site Wednesday afternoon that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was en route and may brief the media. She arrived hours later and was spotted in the warehouse as agents collected evidence, giving her a project presence in a domestic law enforcement case. She declined to speak publicly.
Gabbard has helped organize a group of dozens officials around the nation, Reuters previously reported, involved in helping Trump exact retribution against his political foes.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Gabbard was “once again demonstrating her utter lack of fitness for office that she holds by injecting the non-partisan intelligence community she is supposed to be leading into a domestic political stunt.”
Why is this happening now?
Since his 2020 loss in Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has continued to insist — without evidence — that the election was rigged. His reelection in 2024 reinvigorated conspiracy theories, as Trump has used his expansive executive branch powers and willing allies to pursue his grievances. Georgia’s State Election Board and the U.S. Department of Justice both issued subpoenas last year to seek access to the 2020 records. Those are being litigated.
What is Fulton County saying?
Fulton County officials called the raid alarming and defended the integrity of the records. County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said he was confident the ballots were “safe and secure” in the facility. He’s worried about what happens if they are in federal custody.
“We don’t know where they’re being taken. We don’t know what’s going to happen to them. So we can no longer satisfy — not only the citizens of Atlanta, but the citizens of the world — that those ballots are still secure,” he said.
What are Trump’s allies saying?
The president’s loyalists applauded the raid. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the Trump-endorsed candidate for governor, said Fulton County “couldn’t run a bake sale.” And U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a Senate contender, echoed Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election: “Georgians are about to get some long-overdue answers and learn just how right President Trump was in 2020.”
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