FBI raid of Fulton County, Georgia election office

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On January 28, 2026, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a raid at the Fulton County, Georgia election office in Union City. The FBI had obtained a warrant from Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas to seize all physical ballots, ballot images, tabulato tapes, and the voter rolls of Fulton County from the 2020 United States presidential election. [1] President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him, [2] and also faced prosecution alongside 18 other individuals in Fulton County over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election before he was reelected in 2024. The raid was criticized by Georgia Democrats, with State Representative Saira Draper referring to it as an "attack on our democracy", and U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff calling it a "sore loser's crusade". [3]

Contents

Background

Fulton County was one of the main points of contention in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election on the false premise of election fraud, and is where Trump faced prosecution in these efforts over his Trump fake electors plot before the case was dropped after the dismissal of the prosecutor Fani Willis in 2025. [4]

A week prior to the raid, Trump, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, had said "people will soon be prosecuted for what they did", regarding the 2020 election. [5]

Aftermath

Robb Pitts, the chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, stated that the 2020 election ballots had been secure in the facility and said "I can no longer, as chair of this board, satisfy not only the citizens of Atlanta but the citizens of the world that those ballots are still secure." Pitts also said he did not know where the ballots were being taken. [6]

On February 2, a Fulton County board commissioner announced that the county was planning to file a lawsuit challenging the seizure of the ballots and seeking their return; [7] [8] the lawsuit was filed on February 4. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "FBI executes search warrant at election office in Fulton county, Georgia". The Guardian.
  2. ↑ Axelrod, Tal. "A timeline of Donald Trump's election denial claims, which Republican politicians increasingly embrace". ABC News. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "FBI raids Fulton County elections warehouse seeking 2020 ballots". Georgia Recorder.
  4. ↑ Polantz, Katelyn; Rabinowitz, Hannah; Murray, Sara (2024-12-19). "Georgia appeals court disqualifies Fulton County DA Fani Willis from prosecuting Trump". CNN. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
  5. ↑ "The FBI conducts a search at the Fulton County election office in Georgia". NPR.
  6. ↑ "FBI searches Georgia county election hub in connection with Trump's 2020 election loss". NBC News.
  7. ↑ Kottke, Joe; Shabad, Rebecca (February 2, 2026). "Fulton County, Georgia, to sue Trump administration over seizure of 2020 election records". NBC News. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
  8. ↑ Harris, Christopher (February 2, 2026). "Georgia's Fulton County to file motion after FBI seizes 2020 election ballots". WUPA . Retrieved February 4, 2026.
  9. ↑ Brumback, Kate; Riccardi, Nicholas (February 4, 2026). "Legal fight escalates over Georgia voting records as Trump says he wants to 'take over' elections". Associated Press. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
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