Fulton County sues Trump administration over FBI seizure of 2020 election records

ATLANTA, GEORGIA:  Fulton County, Georgia, is preparing to file a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, the FBI and the Justice Department over a search warrant executed last week at a county election facility seeking records related to the 2020 presidential election.

According to NBC News, Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr said the county will file a motion Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, challenging what he described as the unlawful seizure of sensitive election materials and seeking the immediate return of ballots and related records.

“I’ve asked the county attorney to take any and all steps available to fight this criminal search warrant,” Arrington said, arguing that the warrant's scope was improper and overly broad.

Hundreds of ballots, voter rolls seized in search 

County officials said FBI agents seized hundreds of boxes containing original ballots, ballot images and voter rolls during the search. Arrington said a separate court order had authorized federal agents only to make copies of records, not to remove original materials.

“They got copies of our voter rolls and all the original ballots,” Arrington said. He added that the county has been unable to verify whether all materials will be returned because no chain-of-custody inventory was conducted at the time of the seizure.

The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The agency’s Atlanta field office confirmed that it executed the warrant and said the investigation remains ongoing. Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said he does not know where the seized records are currently being held. 

The search has also fueled partisan reaction online, with some conservative commentators claiming, without evidence, that the seizure uncovered proof of widespread voter fraus in the 2020 elction. 

FBI Director Kash Patel defended the action last week, saying agents collected evidence authorized by a judge and would continue reviewing the materials.

Trump lost Georgia in the 2020 election but has repeatedly claimed that the results were fraudulent.

Trump says, 'now, you're gonna see something in Georgia'

Meanwhile, Donald Trump suggested that new revelations were imminent after referencing the ballots siezure during a podcast appearance on Monday. 

"Nationalize the voting! We have states so crooked, counting votes, that I won that show I didn't win. Now, you're gonna see something in Georgia...the ballots, you will see some interesting things come out!"

Federal agents descended on the Fulton County elections office near Atlanta on Wednesday, January 28, executing a search warrant tied to an expanding investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding the 2020 election.

An FBI spokesperson confirmed that the agents were “executing a court-authorized law enforcement action” at the county’s main elections facility in Union City, just south of Atlanta.

The Union City significant marked a sharp escalation in federal scrutiny of the 2020 election. The Justice Department had previously sued Fulton County officials to compel the release of election records, though a judge had not yet ruled in that case.

Georgia remained a focal point for Trump since 2020, when he reportedly pressed state officials to “find” votes. Last week, he again raised the stakes, saying “people will soon be prosecuted for what they did” in connection with the election, without naming specific targets.