ATLANTA (AP) — The FBI obtained a search warrant to seize hundreds of boxes of ballots from election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of a criminal investigation into possible “deficiencies or defects” in the vote count in the contested 2020 election, according to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday.
The investigation stems from a referral by Kurt Olsen, who served as Trump’s 2020 campaign lawyer. It targets claims of widespread fraud that have been consistently debunked by numerous audits and investigations.
This search has raised alarms among Democrats, fearing that Trump might be using federal resources to exact revenge for perceived electoral injustices. Nevertheless, the affidavit does not present evidence supporting allegations of foreign interference.
Democrat Joe Biden narrowly won Georgia by about 11,800 votes during an election certified by a Republican secretary of state. Reportedly, investigators are examining Fulton County’s admission that it lacks scanned images of all ballots counted and that some were potentially scanned multiple times during recounts.
The warrant listed various election materials to be seized, including ballots, tabulator tapes, electronic ballot images, and voter rolls. However, Fulton County officials have filed a motion to have the seized materials returned, arguing that extensive reviews have consistently found no evidence of fraud.
Agents armed with the warrant spent hours on January 28 at the county elections hub, confiscating hundreds of cartons of election-related documents, which has sparked a retaliation discussion among lawmakers about the integrity of previous elections.
