Fulton County goes to court to demand return of ballots seized by FBI
Source: Washington Post
Officials in Georgia filed a court challenge Wednesday seeking the return of scores of election records seized by federal agents last week from a warehouse in Fulton County, which has been central to right-wing conspiracy theories about President Donald Trumps loss in the 2020 presidential election.
Robb Pitts, chairman of the Fulton County board of commissioners, vowed county officials would use every resource to secure ballots and other material and cast the court fight as part of a broader effort to ensure the future of independent elections.
The countys motion, which was filed under seal in federal court in Atlanta also asked the judge to unseal the investigative affidavit that agents submitted to secure their search warrant, Pitts said.
Our very constitution is at stake in this fight, he said at a news conference, adding later: This case is not only about Fulton County. Its about elections across Georgia and across the nation......
Though the details of their court filing Wednesday remain sealed, county leaders have said they want to retrieve the records taken by the Trump administration and forensically audit the documents.
To some extent, its almost too late at this point because the chain of custody has been broken, Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. said Monday. They could add 11,000 records or lose 11,000 records
and we dont have any way to counter any false narrative they come up with.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/04/georgia-fulton-county-2020-election-records
The fact that this lawsuit was filed under seal is interesting
Link to tweet
LudwigPastorius
(14,362 posts)Does he think that if he can "prove" the 2020 election went for him, he's going to be owed a make-up extra term?
Shit doesn't work that way, Piggie.
Meanwhile, the inviolable right of the States to run their own elections is being raped by Trump and Patel's goons.
mdbl
(8,253 posts)Glad they are doing something about it.
bluestarone
(21,609 posts)I mean, i really don't know, BUT i'm thinking a state law enforcement could have got involved? Until the warrant was gone over?
reACTIONary
(7,055 posts)... a search warrant is not like a subpoena, where you are told to show up in x amount of time, giving you the opportunity to contest it. They can "execute" it with no advanced warning. If you resist, they can use force. In most cases this makes sense because it prevents hiding or destroying evidence.
You can contest it after the fact, as in this case. The court can order the evidence returned and prevent it from being used in any prosecution. Or, if it gets to trial, it can be thrown out then.
By the way, IANAL. Caveat emptor.
bluestarone
(21,609 posts)The warrant. Maybe i misunderstood if the warrant was signed by the right judge?
DavidDvorkin
(20,525 posts)Although the point has to be made in court.
LetMyPeopleVote
(176,503 posts)The fact that this lawsuit was filed under seal is interesting. This will be a fun case to follow
Georgia's Fulton County demands return of ballots seized by FBI: new filing
— #TuckFrump (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) 2026-02-04T15:44:35.000Z
https://www.rawstory.com/fulton-county-2675082219
The motion has requested that the FBI return the records and ballots it took last week during a raid at a the county's election center warehouse, according to MS NOW.
The motion was under a seal and the details were not immediately released, MS NOW's Josh Einiger reported.
A county commission hearing was underway Wednesday and more details about the motion were expected to be revealed during an upcoming press conference, he added.
"Writ large, the big challenge for Fulton County is just to figure out how to get those ballots back," Einiger said. "Again, 700 boxes of ballots and other related documents seized by the FBI last week as part of this apparent wide-ranging investigation, although no one in Fulton County really can say for sure who or what is the actual target of this investigation. The biggest concern, Ana, though for election officials in Fulton County and the Fulton County Commission is that they could somehow in all this lose control of their voting systems as the midterms are just around the corner and of course, the next general election in 2028."
LetMyPeopleVote
(176,503 posts)orangecrush
(29,276 posts)EuterpeThelo
(255 posts)given the importance of Georgia in the MAGA narrative that 2020 was "stolen," WHY did nobody think to make copies of all those records in anticipation that exactly this ridiculous bullsh!t would eventually take place!?!? They've had almost SIX YEARS.