FBI raids Fulton County, Georgia election hub, probing 2020 

Federal agents executed a court-authorized search at Fulton County’s main election operations center Wednesday.

“FBI Atlanta is executing a court authorized law enforcement action at 5600 Campbellton Fairburn Rd,” a spokesperson for the FBI’s Atlanta field office said in a statement to Democracy Docket. “Our investigation into this matter is ongoing so there are no details that we can provide at the moment.”

A spokesperson for Fulton County also confirmed the FBI raid to Democracy Docket.

“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation served a search warrant at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operations Center,” they said. “The warrant sought a number of records related to 2020 elections.

Fulton County District 4 Commissioner Mo Ivory said on social media that the FBI filed an incorrect warrant to obtain 2020 election materials, so nothing has been removed yet from the election office. But she added that agents intend to return with a correct warrant.

Still, some local news reports showed FBI agents collecting records from the Fulton County election hub. 

“All of this is about disrupting the elections in November,” Ivory said in an Instagram video. “All of this is about Fulton — the most important County in Georgia and maybe even the nation, because we had such an impact on the 2020 elections and Biden becoming the president. This is all a distraction to make people fearful to go to the polls in November.”

Kristin Nabers, the Georgia state director of All Voting is Local, said she believes the probe is driven by the president’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results.

“I think the FBI is doing the president’s bidding and trying to create a criminal case against Georgia. And by carrying out this farce of an investigation, they’re just trying to placate his delusions,” Nabers said. “It’s all a power grab. They can’t come to grips with the fact that they lost. They really have this unending obsession with the 2020 election results in Georgia and using lies to compensate for the fact that they lost.”

“I believe in complete transparency of our election process,” Fulton County District 1 Commissioner Bridget Thorne (R) told Democracy Docket. “If Fulton has nothing to hide, then there should be no fear of showing the election materials. I would love to finally put the 2020 election to rest.

Other county officials acknowledged the federal presence but stressed they did not have many details on the basis of the search.

“I do not have any information at this time regarding the Elections Hub. If you’d like to send me an email, I will reach out as soon as I have information,” Regina Waller, Communications Division Manager for Fulton County Department of External Affairs told Democracy Docket. 

A spokesperson for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) declined to comment.

A search warrant is a court order that allows law enforcement to look for specific evidence. Federal investigators must show probable cause, or a reasonable belief that evidence of a crime may be found in a specific place . 

Executing such a warrant at an election office is extraordinarily uncommon. 

The FBI last week replaced its top agent in Atlanta, according to the Associated Press.

The raid comes amid an ongoing federal probe of the 2020 election in Georgia, directed by President Donald Trump. In December, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Fulton County for access to ballots and other election records from the 2020 presidential vote. The lawsuit was filed after Trump resurfaced old conspiracy theories about 2020 and escalated his rhetoric that the DOJ should investigate 2020 voter fraud claims and prosecute those responsible. 

The DOJ’s lawsuit came after far-right members of the state’s GOP-controlled election board asked the department for assistance in obtaining 2020 ballots and voting records. In August, Ed Martin, head of the DOJ’s vague weaponization task force, sent a letter to a Fulton County judge demanding to “immediately access” 148,000 absentee ballots being stored in a ballot warehouse. And in October, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections a letter demanding 2020 election records.

“I think they’re using Georgia as a blueprint to see what they can get away with elsewhere, because if they’re allowed to seize election materials here, what would stop them from doing it in other states during the midterms?” Nabers added. “This is a political vendetta aimed at rewriting history and undermining the will of Georgia voters. And this is just, you know, a hallmark of authoritarianism, is criminalizing elections.”

For months, the far-right lawyer and anti-voting activist Cleta Mitchell — who played a key role in Trump’s attempt to subvert the 2020 election — egged on the DOJ to probe debunked allegations of voter fraud in the Peach State. After Martin sent a letter to the Fulton County judge, Mitchell offered on social media to help with the inspection of absentee ballots. 

In December, Mitchell posted: 

“[DOJ Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon] has served notice she is coming for the Fulton County ballots. Praying it happens today. DOJ must act to protect the voters of GA.”

As part of her role in Trump’s election subversion effort, Mitchell was involved with the president’s infamous phone call to Raffensperger, where Trump asked the state election leader to “find 11,780 votes.”

Mitchell claimed that her legal team found “way more than 12,000” votes, but that Raffensperger refused to look at the data.

Trump made reference to the 2020 probe while speaking at Davos last week. 

“It’s a war that should have never started and it wouldn’t have started if the 2020 U.S. presidential election weren’t rigged. It was a rigged election,” he said. “Everybody now knows that. They found out. People will soon be prosecuted for what they did. That’s probably breaking news.” 

This story has been updated.