ATLANTA (AP) — The FBI on Wednesday searched the election office of a Georgia county that has been central to right-wing conspiracy theories over President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, acting just one week after the Republican leader predicted prosecutions over a contest he has baselessly insisted was tainted by widespread fraud.
The search at Fulton County’s main election facility in Union City sought records related to the 2020 election. It appeared to be the most public step by law enforcement to pursue Trump’s claims of a stolen election, grievances rejected time and again by courts and state and federal officials, who found no evidence of fraud that would have altered the outcome.
Trump has for years focused on Fulton, Georgia’s most populous county and a Democratic stronghold, as a key example of what he claims went wrong in the 2020 election. His pressure campaign there culminated in a sweeping state indictment accusing him and 18 others of illegally trying to overturn the vote.
FBI agents secured an area around the large warehouse building that houses the county elections hub with yellow tape and could be seen loading boxes from the building into trucks. FBI spokesperson Jenna Sellitto confirmed that the boxes contained ballots. Among the 2020 election documents sought are ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners used to tally the ballots, electronic ballot images and voter rolls.
An FBI spokesperson said agents were 'executing a court authorized law enforcement action' at the county’s main election office in Union City, just south of Atlanta. The spokesperson declined to provide any further information, citing an ongoing matter.
State and county Democratic officials expressed concern about the search and ballot seizures. 'We don’t know why they took them, and we don’t know where they’re taking them to,' county Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts said.
The Justice Department had no immediate comment. FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were seen onsite.
Trump has long insisted that the 2020 election was stolen even though judges across the country and his own attorney general said they found no evidence of widespread fault that tipped the contest in Democrat Joe Biden’s favor. Last week, in reference to the 2020 election, he asserted that 'people will soon be prosecuted for what they did.' It was not clear what in particular he was referring to.
The FBI's involvement appears to be closely tied to ongoing scrutiny by the Justice Department, which previously filed a lawsuit against the clerk of Fulton County superior and magistrate courts seeking access to election documents. A lawsuit has been initiated by the Justice Department asserting that the clerk's refusal to provide records is a violation of the Civil Rights Act, indicating the federal government’s commitment to transparency in the electoral process.
The search at Fulton County’s main election facility in Union City sought records related to the 2020 election. It appeared to be the most public step by law enforcement to pursue Trump’s claims of a stolen election, grievances rejected time and again by courts and state and federal officials, who found no evidence of fraud that would have altered the outcome.
Trump has for years focused on Fulton, Georgia’s most populous county and a Democratic stronghold, as a key example of what he claims went wrong in the 2020 election. His pressure campaign there culminated in a sweeping state indictment accusing him and 18 others of illegally trying to overturn the vote.
FBI agents secured an area around the large warehouse building that houses the county elections hub with yellow tape and could be seen loading boxes from the building into trucks. FBI spokesperson Jenna Sellitto confirmed that the boxes contained ballots. Among the 2020 election documents sought are ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners used to tally the ballots, electronic ballot images and voter rolls.
An FBI spokesperson said agents were 'executing a court authorized law enforcement action' at the county’s main election office in Union City, just south of Atlanta. The spokesperson declined to provide any further information, citing an ongoing matter.
State and county Democratic officials expressed concern about the search and ballot seizures. 'We don’t know why they took them, and we don’t know where they’re taking them to,' county Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts said.
The Justice Department had no immediate comment. FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were seen onsite.
Trump has long insisted that the 2020 election was stolen even though judges across the country and his own attorney general said they found no evidence of widespread fault that tipped the contest in Democrat Joe Biden’s favor. Last week, in reference to the 2020 election, he asserted that 'people will soon be prosecuted for what they did.' It was not clear what in particular he was referring to.
The FBI's involvement appears to be closely tied to ongoing scrutiny by the Justice Department, which previously filed a lawsuit against the clerk of Fulton County superior and magistrate courts seeking access to election documents. A lawsuit has been initiated by the Justice Department asserting that the clerk's refusal to provide records is a violation of the Civil Rights Act, indicating the federal government’s commitment to transparency in the electoral process.
