FBI seizure of Georgia ballots reflects pursuit of Trump’s 2020 election grievance

FBI Seizes Election Documents from Fulton County in Unprecedented Search

In a dramatic development that has raised questions about the intersection of politics and law enforcement, FBI agents arrived at a Fulton County, Georgia, elections warehouse on Wednesday, loading box trucks with hundreds of containers holding ballots and other documents related to the 2020 presidential election.

The unprecedented search targeted Georgia’s most populous county, which overwhelmingly voted Democratic in 2020 and has been a focal point of former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that widespread voter fraud cost him the state. Federal authorities have not disclosed the purpose of the search, and the warrant justifying the operation remains sealed.

Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts was notified of the federal agents’ presence shortly after noon on Wednesday. The initial warrant was incorrectly directed at the county elections office instead of the county court clerk, who officially maintains custody of the documents in a secure area within the elections hub. After obtaining a corrected warrant, agents returned to continue their operation.

“I was not even allowed where they were,” Pitts said. “I could peek in, but I wasn’t even allowed in the area to see what they were taking.”

Sherri Allen, the Fulton County election board Chair, attempted to negotiate with agents to retain copies of the materials being seized, but her request was denied. According to a warrant cover sheet provided to county officials, agents sought all ballots, tabulator tapes, electronic ballot images, and voter rolls related to the 2020 general election in Fulton County.

The FBI search has injected federal law enforcement agencies directly into a contentious political dispute that has persisted since the 2020 election. Critics argue this unprecedented action risks politicizing institutions that have historically operated independently from White House influence, especially considering multiple audits, state officials, courts, and even Trump’s former attorney general have rejected claims of widespread election fraud that could have affected the outcome.

Raising additional questions about the operation was the presence of FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the site. Gabbard’s involvement is particularly unusual, as she is not part of the FBI or federal law enforcement. A senior administration official stated that Gabbard “has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference.”

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, challenged Gabbard’s presence, stating she either needs to inform the committee if she believes foreign intelligence tried to influence the election or “she is simply attempting to inject the non-partisan intelligence community into a domestic political stunt designed to legitimize conspiracy theories that undermine our democracy.”

Further complicating matters, the attorney for the government identified on the warrant is Thomas Albus, the interim U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Missouri, not the U.S. attorney based in Atlanta. The Justice Department has not explained why a Missouri-based prosecutor appears to be leading this case in Georgia.

Reactions to the search have split along partisan lines. Democratic officials have condemned it as an attack on democracy and a distraction tactic, while Republicans have defended it as a justified action to uncover the truth. Democratic Representative Saira Draper warned on the state House floor that the investigation could be used to manufacture suspicion: “It doesn’t have to be real, it just needs to offer a pretextual justification for what will happen next.”

Republican Representative Victor Anderson, who chairs the House Governmental Affairs Committee, cautioned against overreaction: “What we saw yesterday was the lawful execution of a lawfully obtained federal search warrant that was signed by U.S. magistrate court judge. That’s part of the process.”

Fulton County had experienced election administration issues before 2020, with long lines and slow reporting of results. Following a particularly problematic primary in 2020, independent monitors were appointed to observe the general election. While they documented “sloppy processes” and “systemic disorganization,” they found no evidence of fraud or illegality.

County officials emphasize that significant changes have been implemented since 2020, including new election board members, replaced leadership in the elections department, improved practices, and centralized election operations. A monitoring team present during 2023 elections described the county’s processes as “organized and orderly.”