FBI searches Fulton County elections office as it investigates alleged voter fraud

CNN

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Tierney Sneed, Jason Morris, Shawn Nottingham, CNN

(CNN) — The FBI served a warrant Wednesday at an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia, as it probes alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN the search is related to an effort by the Justice Department to seize election records and search for alleged voter fraud in the county, including Atlanta, which has long been a centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

The Justice Department previously sued Fulton County officials to force them to hand over records related to the 2020 election. A judge has not ruled in the case yet.

Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory told reporters Wednesday evening the county was served with a warrant for all of the Fulton county ballots from the 2020 election.

“They are in there collecting 700 boxes of ballots right now,” Ivory said, referring to FBI agents at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operations center.

Trucks at the Fulton elections facility could be seen being loaded with boxes. An FBI spokesperson at the scene told CNN the materials would be taken to the FBI Central Records Complex in Virginia.

Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts told reporters gathered at the facility, “All I know is that as long as those boxes have been in control of the county in this facility that they were safe and they were secure.”

“We can no longer, and I can no longer as chair of this board, satisfy not only the citizens of Atlanta but the the citizens of the world that those ballots are still secure,” Pitts said.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey were both observed on the scene by CNN crews.

“Director Gabbard has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference, including operations targeting voting systems, databases, and election infrastructure,” a senior administration official told CNN. “She has and will continue to take action on President Trump’s directive to secure our elections and work with our interagency partners to do so.”

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, senior US intelligence officials repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s demands to investigate dubious claims of voter fraud — particularly those related to foreign interference. Gabbard’s presence in Fulton County, which was a focal point of various election-related claims, is a notable departure from that precedent by a Trump appointed intelligence official who has appeared willing to entertain the President’s most controversial misgivings — including those related to his previous electoral defeat.

A review by the DOJ in Trump’s first term did not find evidence to support allegations of widespread fraud that could have changed the result of the 2020 presidential election.

​In the weeks after his 2020 election loss Trump launched a campaign in Georgia to overturn the election in his favor, including a now infamous call during which Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican who voted for Trump, to “find” enough votes to overcome his loss. Biden’s win was ultimately affirmed in the state.

Much of his ire was focused on Fulton County, whose voter base is largely non-white and voted for Biden. Trump and several associates were criminally charged for attempting to overturn the election results in the state after leaving office, though the case was later dropped.

Georgia conducted a risk-limiting audit of the state’s 2020 presidential election. Raffensperger at the time praised the audit, which included a full manual tally of all votes cast.

“Georgia’s historic first statewide audit reaffirmed that the state’s new secure paper ballot voting system accurately counted and reported results,” Raffensperger previously said. “This is a credit to the hard work of our county and local elections officials who moved quickly to undertake and complete such a momentous task in a short period of time.”

Since securing a second term, Trump has repeatedly asserted that those he believed to be responsible for, or connected to, his claims of widespread voter fraud would face consequences. The top federal prosecutor in Atlanta resigned days before Trump was inaugurated because the president believed he was not doing enough to find examples of the alleged fraud, according to a Senate report. BJ Pak had in fact investigated and did not substantiate various claims of election fraud advanced by Trump and his allies, the report says.

The Justice Department’s ongoing civil case against Fulton County seeks 2020 election records including ballots, ballots stubs and absentee ballot signature envelopes, according to court filings. In the case, the department has claimed it needs to assess the county’s compliance with federal laws that concern voter registration. It has also pointed to a subpoena issued by the State Election Board — which has a majority aligned with Trump — for those records.

The department’s request that a judge immediately order the release of the documents is still pending. In court filings, Fulton County election officials said that court officials, not the election office, currently have those materials under seal.

In addition to its lawsuit for Fulton County records, the Justice Department is suing two dozen states for non-public voter roll information.

Election officials were also alarmed when a GOP operative claiming to working with the administration reached out to local election officials in Colorado last year seeking access to their voting equipment, CNN previously reported, (The White House denied it had authorized the operative’s outreach).

FBI Atlanta declined to give additional information, saying that “our investigation into this matter is ongoing.”

Democrats condemning the effort

In a statement, Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Charlie Bailey said Georgians are watching Trump’s “increasingly manic governance.”

“Every Georgian should be alarmed that Donald Trump is wielding federal law enforcement to push his baseless, dangerous lies about winning the 2020 election,” Bailey wrote.

Geoff Duncan, the former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia who is now running for governor of the state as a Democrat told CNN, “It’s just another disgusting attempt by Donald Trump and his administration to try and rewrite history.”

Jason Esteves, another Democratic candidate for governor, linked the effort to the Trump administration’s immigration efforts in Minnesota.

“It’s no coincidence that Donald Trump is raiding the Fulton County Board of Elections and stepping up his attacks on democracy in Georgia the very same week that his administration has demanded voter rolls in Minnesota as ransom to stop ICE’s violence,” Esteves’ statement said. “What we’re watching is a concerted effort to destroy the fabric of our democracy while Trump’s federal agents kill American citizens in the process.”

This story was updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

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