Fulton County challenged Trump DOJ in a court hearing over seized 2020 ballots as federal inquiry into election irregularities continued.
must return thousands of 2020 election ballots seized during a January search warrant execution, as both sides sharply clashed over the scope of an ongoing federal investigation.Hackers tied to Iran breach FBI director’s personal email and post private imagesDOJ to investigate Maine and California over constitutionality of 'housing men in women's prisons' FBI agents are seen at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center, Wednesday, Jan.
28, 2026, in Union City, Ga, near Atlanta. argued the Jan. 28 seizure of election materials from the county’s election warehouse was “unusual,” noting it targeted an election that has already been extensively reviewed in the years since President Donald Trump lost Georgia to former Presidentacted out of frustration with parallel civil litigation it had filed to obtain the same materials. Prior to the raid, the Georgia Board of Elections had been engaged in a heated legal battle with the county to obtain 2020 election records. “There’s abundant law that the left hand of the department needs to know what the right hand is doing,” Lowell told the court, according to theDOJ attorney Michael Weisbuch rejected that argument during courtroom arguments on Friday, saying the separate litigation was “not relevant in any respect” and emphasizing that federal investigators still require the original materials to pursue their inquiry. He noted the government has already provided Fulton County with digital copies of everything seized. The dispute centers on the FBI’s seizure of more than 650 boxes of election-related materials from a warehouse near Atlanta, part of a broader DOJ investigation into alleged irregularities in Fulton County’s handling of the 2020 vote. In sworn affidavits, federal officials have pointed to concerns about whether ballot images were properly retained, whether some ballots were scanned multiple times, and whether certain absentee ballots may have been improperly counted. The inquiry was initiated following a referral led by attorney , who now serves as Trump’s director of election security and integrity, and the affidavit relied on claims about the conduct of the election by 11 witnesses. Fulton County officials have forcefully pushed back, arguing the issues cited reflect routine administrative errors rather than evidence of fraud. In court filings, the county accused the federal government of showing “callous disregard” for Fourth Amendment protections and attempting to set a precedent for federal interference in local election administration. To support its claims, the county submitted a sworn declaration from election technology expert Ryan Macias, who said the FBI affidavit used to obtain the warrant contains “a multitude of false or misleading statements and omissions.” DOJ lawyers disputed that characterization, writing that “the supposed misrepresentations and omissions flagged by Petitioners are illusory and/or immaterial,” and emphasizing that a federal magistrate judge reviewed and approved the warrant., the DOJ further argued that Fulton County’s legal challenge is fundamentally flawed and does not justify forcing federal agents to testify or returning the seized materials. Federal attorneys said the county cannot show it has a valid possessory interest in the records or that any irreparable harm will result, noting that the clerk of court previously sought permission to destroy some of the materials. Allowing such requests, the government argued, would give litigants a “roadmap” to “improperly disrupt and peek into ongoing criminal investigations.” The broader legal fight comes amid heightened scrutiny of the Trump administration’s efforts to revisit aspects of the 2020 election. The FBI has also issued subpoenas for election-related records in other battleground states, including Arizona, while the Justice Department is pursuing voter data from multiple states in ongoing litigation. Democrats and some election officials have raised concerns that the federal government is using law enforcement powers to relitigate the 2020 election and potentially influence future contests.Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta and is heavily Democratic, has been a focal point of Trump’s claims of election fraud. However, Georgia’s results were counted three times, including a full hand recount, each time confirming Biden’s victory. Boulee has not yet ruled on whether the federal government must return the physical ballots, leaving the central dispute unresolved as the DOJ’s investigation continues.
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Georgia's Fulton County and the Trump administration square off in court over seized 2020 ballotsAva-joye Burnett is an award-winning journalist who joined Scripps News in April of 2023. Prior to Scripps News, Ava-joye spent seven years as a general assignment reporter at CBS Baltimore (WJZ).
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