The FBI conducted a search on Wednesday at the election office of a Georgia county that has become a focal point for conspiracy theories surrounding former President Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election. This action comes just a week after Trump, a key Republican figure, forecasted legal actions regarding an election he continues to assert, without evidence, was marred by extensive fraud.
The operation took place at the main election facility in Union City, Fulton County, with officials seeking documents linked to the 2020 election, according to county spokesperson Jessica Corbitt-Dominguez. This marks a significant step by law enforcement in addressing Trump’s allegations of a rigged election, claims that have repeatedly been dismissed by the judiciary and various audits as unfounded.
This development is set against a larger backdrop of FBI and Justice Department probes into individuals Trump perceives as political adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump has consistently pointed to Fulton County, the most populous in Georgia and a Democratic bastion, as a prime example of alleged electoral misconduct in 2020. His actions in the county led to a comprehensive state indictment accusing him and 18 others of attempting to unlawfully overturn the election results.
An FBI representative confirmed that agents were “executing a court-authorized law enforcement action” at the Union City election office, located just south of Atlanta. However, further details were withheld due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
Corbitt-Dominguez mentioned that the warrant requested “a number of records related to 2020 elections,” but refrained from elaborating further since the search was still in progress.
The Justice Department had no immediate comment.
Trump has long insisted that the 2020 election was stolen even though judges across the country and his own attorney general said they found no evidence of widespread fault that tipped the contest in Democrat Joe Biden’s favor.
The president has made Georgia, one of the battleground states he lost in 2020, a central target for his complaints about the election and memorably pushed its secretary of state to help “find” enough votes to overturn the contest.
Last week, in reference to the 2020 election, he asserted that “people will soon be prosecuted for what they did.” It was not clear what in particular he was referring to.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in August 2023 obtained an indictment against Trump and 18 others, accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. That case was dismissed in November after courts barred Willis and her office from pursuing it because of an “appearance of impropriety” stemming from a romantic relationship she had with a prosecutor she had appointed to lead the case.
The FBI last week moved to replace its top agent in Atlanta, Paul W. Brown, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a non-public personnel decision. It was not immediately clear why the move, which was not publicized by the FBI, was made.
The Department of Justice last month sued the clerk of the Fulton County superior and magistrate courts in federal court seeking access to documents from the 2020 election in the county. The lawsuit said the department sent a letter to Che Alexander, clerk of superior and magistrate courts, but that she has failed to produce the requested documents.
Alexander has filed a motion to dismiss the suit. The Justice Department complaint says that the purpose of its request was “ascertaining Georgia’s compliance with various federal election laws.” The attorney general is also trying to help the State Election Board with its “transparency efforts under Georgia law.”
A three-person conservative majority on the State Election Board has repeatedly sought to reopen a case alleging wrongdoing by Fulton County during the 2020 election. It passed a resolution in July seeking assistance from the U.S. attorney general to access voting materials.
The state board sent subpoenas to the county board for various election documents last year and again on Oct. 6. The October subpoena requested “all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County.”
The Justice Department sent a letter to the county election board Oct. 30 citing the federal Civil Rights Act and asking for all records responsive to the October subpoena from the State Election Board. Lawyers for the county election board responded about two weeks later, saying that the records are held by the county court clerk. They also attached a letter the clerk sent to the State Election Board saying that the records are under seal in accordance with state law and can’t be released without a court order.
The Justice Department said it then sent a letter to Alexander, the clerk, on Nov. 21 requesting the documents and that she failed to respond.
The department is asking a judge to declare that the clerk’s “refusal to provide the election records upon a demand by the Attorney General” violates the Civil Rights Act. It is also asking the judge to order Alexander to produce the requested records within five days of a court order.
The State Election Board in May 2024 heard a case that alleged documentation was missing for thousands of votes in the recount of the presidential contest in the 2020 election in 2020. After a presentation by a lawyer and an investigator for the secretary of state’s office, a response from the county and a lengthy discussion among the board members, the board voted to issue a letter of reprimand to the county.
Shortly after that vote, there was a shift in power on the board, and the newly cemented conservative majority sought to reopen the case. The lone Democrat on the board and the chair have repeatedly objected, arguing the case is closed and citing multiple reviews that have found that while the county’s 2020 elections were sloppy and poorly managed there was no evidence of intentional wrongdoing.
The conservative majority voted to subpoena a slew of election records from the county in November 2024. A fight over that subpoena is tied up in court.
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