Judge rules FBI agent doesn’t need to testify about Fulton County election raid

By Jacob Knutson

Election workers count Fulton County ballots at State Farm Arena on November 4, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Election workers count Fulton County ballots at State Farm Arena on November 4, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

The FBI agent behind the bureau’s unprecedented seizure of 2020 election records from Fulton County, Georgia, will not have to testify in an upcoming hearing in the county’s lawsuit seeking the return of the materials, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Fulton County officials and former Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys have accused FBI special agent Hugh Raymond Evans of deliberately presenting misleading and long-debunked election fraud claims from notorious conspiracy theorists to a court to secure the search warrant that authorized the bureau’s raid.

The hearing, set for Friday morning, will give Fulton County officials the opportunity to argue their case on why the DOJ has no right to possess the documents, which include original ballots. But due to the judge’s new order, county officials will not get the chance to question Evans about his extraordinary affidavit. 

Still, the hearing may reveal new details into the DOJ’s criminal probe into the county, which has long been a top target in President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 election and in his broader effort to undermine free and fair elections. 

In his order, U.S. District Judge Jean-Paul Boulee, who was nominated by Trump in 2019, granted the DOJ’s motion to quash Fulton County’s subpoena against Evans. He deferred to the department’s claim that the agent’s testimony would jeopardize the federal government’s ongoing investigation into Fulton County.

However, the DOJ had already revealed crucial information about the probe by complying with a court order and unsealing the affidavit. The department’s decision to release the document without pushback was unusual, as it typically fights vigorously to keep such information private and protect the integrity of its investigations, sources and methods.

Following the raid, the DOJ also initially told Fulton County officials that it wouldn’t oppose Evans testifying about the affidavit. Thomas Albus, a Missouri-based U.S. attorney overseeing the DOJ’s probe into the 2020 vote in Georgia, said in February that he couldn’t imagine Evan’s testimony “will be an issue.” 

However, three days later, the DOJ backtracked and moved to quash the county’s subpoena against Evans.

Boulee ordered the upcoming hearing after the county and the DOJ failed to reach an agreement on possession of the materials through out-of-court negotiations.