Justice Department can keep 2020 election ballots seized from Georgia’s Fulton County, judge rules

ATLANTA (AP) — The national authorities doesn't person to instrumentality the 2020 predetermination ballots from Georgia's Fulton County that were seized by the FBI from a warehouse adjacent Atlanta, a justice ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee's determination came aft lawyers for the region had argued that the ballots and different predetermination materials, arsenic good arsenic immoderate physics copies the Justice Department has made, should beryllium returned due to the fact that the seizure was improper and unconstitutional.

The Jan. 28 seizure by the FBI targeted the elections hub successful Georgia’s astir populous county, which is heavy Democratic and includes astir of the metropolis of Atlanta. Fulton County has been astatine the halfway of unfounded claims by President Donald Trump and his allies that wide predetermination fraud outgo him the 2020 election.

The Justice Department has said it is investigating “irregularities that occurred during the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination successful the County” and identified 2 laws that mightiness person been violated. One requires predetermination records to beryllium maintained for 22 months, portion the different prohibits procuring, casting oregon tabulating false, fictitious oregon fraudulent ballots.

Georgia’s votes successful the 2020 statesmanlike contention were counted 3 times, including erstwhile by hand, and each number affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s win.

Representatives for Fulton County and the Justice Department did not instantly respond to emails seeking remark connected the ruling Wednesday evening. The region could entreaty the ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The seizure successful this lawsuit was surely not perfect,” Boulee wrote successful his 68-page ruling. But helium went connected to accidental that Fulton County did not found that its rights were callously disregarded “either done the deficiency of probable cause, omissions successful the Affidavit oregon by the mode of the execution of the seizure.”

The region besides failed to amusement that it needs the documents oregon volition beryllium irreparably harmed if they are not returned, helium wrote, noting this is peculiarly existent due to the fact that the Justice Department has fixed the region copies of the documents.

Months aft the January seizure of ballots and different predetermination materials, the Justice Department successful April obtained a expansive assemblage subpoena for the names and idiosyncratic interaction accusation of Fulton County employees and volunteers progressive successful the 2020 election. Fulton County filed a question Monday to quash that subpoena, arguing that it is overbroad and meant to harass the president’s governmental opponents.

The Trump medication has besides taken moves to get past predetermination records from different captious plaything states. The FBI utilized a subpoena successful March to get records related to an audit of the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination successful Maricopa County successful Arizona. And the Justice Department successful April demanded that Michigan’s Wayne County crook implicit its ballots from the 2024 election.

The Justice Department is besides warring galore states successful tribunal for entree to elector information that includes delicate idiosyncratic information. Election officials, including immoderate Republicans, person said handing implicit the accusation would interruption authorities and national privateness laws.

Democrats person raised concerns that the Trump medication is weaponizing national instrumentality enforcement to prosecute the president’s idiosyncratic grievances and is readying ways to interfere successful this year’s midterm elections. Theadministration has said it is looking into allegations of past problems and seeking to support aboriginal elections.

During a March 27 proceeding connected Fulton County’s request that the FBI instrumentality its ballots and different materials, lawyers for the region argued that the seizure was improper and unjustified and demonstrated “callous disregard” for the Fourth Amendment extortion against unreasonable hunt and seizure. They suggested that the Trump medication decided to usage a transgression hunt warrant to get the materials due to the fact that it got bushed of waiting for the result of civilian litigation the Justice Department filed to get them past year.

Justice Department attorneys argued that they took the due steps to get a warrant and past instrumentality the documents. They said it is not uncommon for parallel civilian and transgression investigations to beryllium going connected astatine the aforesaid time.

The justice agreed that the affidavit was “defective successful immoderate respects” and that immoderate of the statements included successful it were “troubling.” But helium noted that the FBI cause who wrote it besides included “facts that some wounded and helped him.” He concluded that the document's shortcomings don't magnitude to callous disregard.

He besides agreed that the authorities tin prosecute civilian and transgression proceedings connected the aforesaid substance and said the timeline of the probe weighs against the county's mentation that the Justice Department “created an ‘ongoing investigation’ to sidestep procedural hurdles” successful civilian cases.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.