FBI Raid in Fulton County Based on Discredited Election Denial Claims

FBI Raid on Georgia Ballots Reveals Recycled Election Claims

On Tuesday afternoon, the FBI released a court-ordered affidavit detailing the justification for its January seizure of nearly 700 boxes of ballots and voting records from the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia. The raid was authorized by a judge after the FBI claimed to have found “evidence of a commission of a criminal offense” related to the 2020 election.

However, the unsealed document has drawn immediate criticism for containing what Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger described as “baseless and repackaged” allegations about the 2020 election that have been repeatedly rejected in court proceedings and by election officials across the country.

A concerning aspect of the affidavit emerged in its opening section. FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans revealed that the bureau’s “criminal investigation originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen,” a temporary White House employee with a controversial background in election denial activism. Olsen was deeply involved in the “Stop the Steal” movement following the 2020 election, attempting to persuade the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to overturn the results.

Olsen also spoke with former President Trump multiple times on January 6, 2021, and was later sanctioned by a federal court for making “false, misleading and unsupported factual assertions” while representing Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in her failed 2022 election challenge.

The affidavit also prominently features evidence provided by Clay Parikh, another election denier who previously testified on Lake’s behalf in 2022.

Legal experts have raised questions about the document’s adherence to established standards for probable cause. Orin Kerr, a professor at Stanford Law School, noted on social media: “In drafting a search warrant affidavit, the Fourth Amendment requires the inclusion of facts that would negate probable cause, if they exist. The government can’t pick facts that, if true, could support a finding of probable cause, but omit the facts that cancel that.”

Adding to the controversy is the unexplained presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the raid. The affidavit provided no evidence or allegations of foreign interference, raising questions about why an intelligence official with no domestic law enforcement authority would participate. Democratic Senators Alex Padilla and Mark Warner have demanded that Gabbard brief Congress on her role in what they called “unprecedented and deeply concerning election-related actions.”

Voting rights advocates view these developments as part of a broader strategy. Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of Fair Fight Action, stated during a Tuesday evening press call: “Their intentions are clear. They want to dramatically remake our elections to curtail who is able to vote and whose votes are counted.”

Among the FBI’s claims is that Fulton County “does not have scanned images of all the 528,777 ballots counted during the Original Count or the 527,925 ballots counted during the Recount.” However, Georgia law did not require counties to retain scanned ballot images in 2020. The Republican-controlled state legislature only added this requirement in March 2021, months after the election.

The FBI also highlighted that some ballots were scanned multiple times during Georgia’s 2020 machine recount. While Fulton County officials acknowledged this possibility, they emphasized that multiple scans do not equate to multiple counts, as initial scans are typically deleted when ballots need rescanning due to tabulation errors. Moreover, three separate counts—the initial tabulation, a hand-counted audit, and a computer recount—all confirmed Biden’s victory in Georgia by approximately 11,779 votes.

Fulton County has filed a federal lawsuit seeking the return of the seized materials, arguing that “there is significant evidence in the public record suggesting that these same debunked theories supported the federal warrant.” Following the affidavit’s release, Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts condemned it as based on “recycled rumors, lies, untruths and unproven conspiracy theories.”

The ongoing dispute raises concerns about potential interference in the upcoming midterm elections. Critics worry that Trump allies on Georgia’s state election board could use the seizure as justification to take over election administration in Fulton County, potentially restricting ballot access and challenging results in Georgia’s most populous county.