GA officials call FBI raid 'politically motivated' as warrant unsealed

The warrant allowing access to an elections hub in Fulton County, Georgia was unsealed Feb. 10, more than a week after federal investigators seized hundreds of boxes of materials relating to the 2020 election.

Agents with the FBI were not carrying a physical warrant when they arrived at the Union City facility, leading to confusion for staff and local police on whether the agents had permission to access the ballot storage.

Body camera footage captured by Fulton County police showed federal agents explaining the warrant needed to be updated because they didn't have all the information about the building, but that a digital version had been given to the Clerk of Courts, and the face of the warrant had been shown to police.

The full warrant remained sealed, even to Fulton County officials. On Feb. 4 a motion was filed under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 41(g) alleging federal investigators may have been able to view election materials, but ballots should not have been taken from the custody of the Clerk. The motion demands materials be returned to Fulton County.

A judge ordered the warrant to be unsealed by Feb. 10, with redactions to shield names of non-governmental witnesses. Here's what it said.

Trump lawyer, an election denier, sent referral for investigation

"Following the November 3, 2020, presidential election, there were many allegations of electoral impropriety relating to the voting process and ballot counting in Fulton County, Georgia," FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans wrote in the affidavit. "Some of those allegations have been disproven while some of those allegations have been substantiated, including through admissions by Fulton County."

The warrant goes on to say the FBI criminal investigation originated from a "referral sent by Kurt Olsen," who was appointed by Trump as the "Director of Election Security and Integrity."

Kurt Olsen is better known, however, as the "Stop the Steal" lawyer. Olsen was a key member of the team denying Joe Biden's 2020 presidential win, going as far as to draft an executive order directing the Department of Justice to take action before January 6. He later represented Kari Lake, a television personality who ran for governor in Arizona and claimed electronic voting machines were used to rig the election for winner Katie Hobs.

"The unsealing of this affidavit confirms what many of us feared from the start: that this extraordinary FBI raid was rooted in recycled theories and politically motivated claims that have already been examined and rejected time and time again," Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington, Jr. said in a statement.

What did FBI agents take from the elections hub?

The warrant gives permission for investigators to seize physical ballots from Fulton County, including but not limited to absentee ballots, advanced voting ballots, provisional ballots, in-person election day ballots, emergency ballots, damaged or destroyed ballots, duplicated ballots or any other ballot used to cast a vote.

Investigators could also take tabulator tapes, ballot images and voter rolls.

Fulton County officials said investigators took about 650 boxes of materials, a move they argue was still illegal. Officials said there was no chain of custody for the materials, agents took originals and didn't retain copies and the ballots shouldn't have been physically removed from Fulton County.

The exact items taken from the hub have not been released.

Investigators allege tabulator machines in Fulton County are missing scanned images of each ballot and that during recounts of votes some ballots were scanned more than once.

The warrant also says during audits there were absentee ballots that were in "pristine" condition, suggesting they hadn't been folded and mailed in.

"On the day of the deadline to report the recount results, Fulton County reported a recount totaling 511,343 ballots, 17,434 ballots fewer than original counted," according to the warrant. "The following day, Fulton County then reported a total of 527,925 ballots counted."

Fulton County officials say concerns about ballots have already been addressed in previous investigations.

"Fulton County's 2020 election was audited, recounted, litigated, and certified. No court, no state official, no independent review found evidence that our vote count was compromised or that the outcome was in doubt. And the state authorities are all run by Republicans," Arrington said. "Yet federal agents still carried out a sweeping seizure of ballots and election records — an action that risks undermining public confidence rather than strengthening it."

The motion for materials to be returned to Georgia is still being considered.

Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at [email protected].