Following FBI operations in Fulton County, Georgia, where Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was seen on-site and former President Donald Trump was reportedly in communication with agents, local authorities have filed a sealed motion demanding the return of all confiscated documents.

Fulton County and the state of Georgia have been central to Trump’s focus since the 2020 election. This was evident when his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, falsely accused election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of wrongdoing, and when Trump urged the state’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, to “find 11,780” votes just days before January 6.

Less than a month ago, the Trump administration attempted to reframe the events of January 6, suggesting that Democrats were to blame. They described those involved as “mere trespassers or peaceful protesters” who were later pardoned by Trump, ignoring the fact that January 6 was the peak of a prolonged campaign by Trump and his supporters, who promoted unfounded claims of a stolen election and failed to prove any significant fraud in court that would have altered the election outcome in Joe Biden’s favor.

With FBI Director Kash Patel and DNI Gabbard visibly participating in the raid, seemingly to oversee operations, local officials perceive that the Trump administration is turning Fulton County into a focal point of its new strategy to “nationalize” elections based on unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud contributing to Trump’s loss.

At a press conference, County Chairman Robb Pitts announced a federal court case against the government, demanding the return of 2020 election materials, including ballots, tabulating machines, and voter lists. The case also calls for the unsealing of the affidavit that supported the search warrant used by the FBI during their operation.

Pitts remarked on the presence of Gabbard, suggesting it indicated “something sinister” might be occurring, and agreed with a reporter that Fulton County seems to be at the center of efforts to nationalize election procedures.

“They’re fixated on 2020,” Pitts said, calling the raid the “first step of whatever they’re going to do to suppress voters” in the fast approaching election cycle, also worrying that the feds may tamper with seized evidence in the absence of an inventory of the 700 or so boxes that were taken.

Fulton County is significant to the president for another reason. It’s where his jail mug shot was taken, after DA Fani Willis, a Democrat, launched an election RICO case against Trump and 18 of his allies, only for the case to crash and burn due to Willis’ “improper conduct.”

The motion comes days after Trump said on ex-FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s show that Republicans should be saying “We want to take over, we should take over the voting in at least 15 places” and “nationalize the voting.”

Benjamin Ginsberg, a Republican election lawyer, made an appearance Tuesday on CNN, telling anchor Jake Tapper that Trump’s aims are “certainly not constitutional or legal.”

‘It’s certainly not constitutional or legal… the president has zero authority under the Constitution to do what he’s suggesting.’ Republican elections lawyer Ben Ginsberg weighs in on Trump’s call for the GOP to ‘take over the voting’ in 15 places. pic.twitter.com/1cmiZDOLZP

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) February 4, 2026

“It’s certainly not constitutional or legal. The Constitution does give the power to run elections to the states. Congress can put rules in for Senate and congressional elections. The president has zero authority under the Constitution to do what he’s suggesting,” Ginsberg said. “As a legal matter, it’s wrong.”

Ginsberg added that Trump is turning “upside-down” conservative Republican orthodoxy.

“For years and years, it has been an article of faith that power should come up from the states to the federal government,” he said.

In a 2020 op-ed, two months before the election Trump still won’t admit he lost, Ginsberg wrote that the president, his then-Attorney General Bill Barr, and Republican lawmakers were wrong to say U.S. elections are marred by widespread, systemic fraud and “rigged” as a consequence of mail-in ballots.

Ginsberg, citing his experience working for Republican causes since 1984, wrote that his job was to look for fraud and he did not find “proof of widespread fraud.”

“Each Election Day since 1984, I’ve been in precincts looking for voting violations, or in Washington helping run the nationwide GOP Election Day operations, overseeing the thousands of Republican lawyers and operatives each election on alert for voting fraud,” he said. “The truth is that after decades of looking for illegal voting, there’s no proof of widespread fraud. At most, there are isolated incidents — by both Democrats and Republicans. Elections are not rigged.”

Ginsberg, also remembered for playing a key role in the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election that led to the Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore and resulted in George W. Bush’s presidency, added that it was “painful” for him to conclude that “rule of law” Republicans were politicizing the mail-in vote to gain an “electoral advantage,” not out of “sincere concern.”

The attorney went on to testify before the Jan. 6 Committee that the 2020 election, unlike the 2000 election, “was not close,” and the Trump campaign’s dozens of lawsuits simply failed to establish or even allege the fraud that the president and his allies decried outside of court.

“In all the cases that were brought—60 cases, with more than 180 counts—the simple fact is that the Trump campaign did not make its case,” Ginsberg testified.