A yearslong fight over access to 2020 election records from the Atlanta, Georgia, area culminated this week in an FBI raid, during which agents executed a court-authorized search warrant at Fulton County’s main election facility.
Federal agents spent a full day searching the Fulton County Election Hub and Operations Center in Union City on Wednesday, seizing ballots and election records tied to the 2020 presidential contest as part of an investigation examining potential violations of federal election laws. The operation marked a sharp turn in a dispute that began with state subpoenas, expanded into parallel state and federal court battles, and ultimately drew the involvement of senior Trump administration officials, including the nation’s top intelligence officer.
According to a copy of the search warrant, agents were authorized to seize all physical ballots, tabulator tapes, electronic ballot images, and voter rolls generated during the 2020 election from the county’s main election facility, along with related electronic data tied to ballot tabulation and voter registration. The warrant cites potential violations of federal laws governing the preservation of election records and the submission of fraudulent votes. Federal officials have not identified any suspects, and the potential target of the investigation remains sealed.
The search unfolded as the Trump administration intensified renewed scrutiny of the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, a contest President Donald Trump has long insisted was stolen despite failed legal challenges to the results across the country. Georgia, one of the battleground states Trump narrowly lost, has remained a central focus of his complaints, including his now-infamous call urging the Georgia Secretary of State to “find” additional votes.
Trump again hinted at looming legal consequences last week, asserting that “people will soon be prosecuted for what they did” in reference to the 2020 election, though he did not specify whom he was referring to or what conduct he believed warranted charges.
What stood out during Wednesday’s FBI raid was the presence of Tulsi Gabbard outside the election facility during the raid. The director of national intelligence typically has no domestic law enforcement authority and oversees intelligence agencies that are generally barred from operating within U.S. borders absent a national security justification, but Gabbard was still present for the Fulton County search.
White House officials told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that Gabbard has spent months leading an administration-wide effort to re-examine the 2020 election, including assessing claims of foreign interference and vulnerabilities in election infrastructure. Her work has involved coordination with senior DOJ officials and outside legal allies of Trump, and she has regularly briefed the president and chief of staff Susie Wiles, officials said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche addressed questions from reporters on Friday about Gabbard’s appearance, rejecting suggestions that her presence was improper or unrelated to the Justice Department’s work.
“She happened to be present in Atlanta. I mean, yes, I saw the same photos you did,” Blanche said. “She doesn’t work for the Department of Justice or the FBI. She’s an extraordinarily important part of this administration. This administration coordinates everything we do as a group.”
When pressed on whether Gabbard’s appearance had nothing to do with the DOJ, Blanche pushed back.
“I most certainly did not say that,” he said. “This administration works closely together in all kinds of different areas. If there’s surprise that the administration is working together on things like election integrity, let me unequivocally state we are working together as an administration on election integrity-type issues.”
The raid also came amid a quiet leadership change inside the FBI. According to people familiar with the matter, the bureau moved last week to replace its top agent in Atlanta, Paul W. Brown, ABC News reported. The move was not publicly announced, and officials declined to explain the decision, which occurred days before the Fulton County search.
The events that preceded the raid on Wednesday date back to Nov. 5, 2024, when Georgia’s State Election Board issued two subpoenas seeking access to Fulton County’s 2020 election materials. Fulton County moved to block the subpoenas on Nov. 18, 2024, filing a motion to quash in county court.
After a shift to a conservative majority on the State Election Board in mid-2025, the board escalated its efforts. On July 30, the board passed a resolution formally seeking assistance from Attorney General Pam Bondi to compel compliance. New subpoenas from the state board followed on Oct. 6, demanding all used and void ballots, ballot stubs, signature envelopes, and related digital files from the 2020 election.
The DOJ entered the dispute later that month, sending a letter on Oct. 30, demanding all records responsive to the State Election Board subpoena. Fulton County responded on Nov. 14, stating the materials were under seal under Georgia law and could not be produced without a court order. The DOJ then sent a follow-up demand to county clerk Che Alexander on Nov. 21, according to court filings.
The controversy intensified during a State Election Board meeting on Dec. 9, when county officials acknowledged that more than 130 tabulator tapes, covering roughly 315,000 early in-person votes, lacked required poll-worker signatures. The admission gained wider attention in late December after local outlets were made aware of the major error.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-GA) downplayed the error in a statement later that month, claiming it was a “clerical” mistake that would not have “erased valid, legal votes.”
The DOJ filed suit against Fulton County on Dec. 11, seeking a declaration that the county was violating Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 and asking a judge to order the production of the records within five days of a court order.
In state court, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled on Dec. 22 that the county could not block the State Election Board subpoenas and ordered officials to provide a cost breakdown for compliance by Jan. 7, after the county claimed production would cost roughly $400,000.
Alexander moved to dismiss the federal lawsuit on Jan. 5, arguing the dispute belonged in state court. Fulton County submitted its cost estimate on Jan. 7, which the State Election Board challenged on Jan. 14. The DOJ filed its response opposing dismissal on Jan. 20, arguing federal law gives the attorney general broad authority to demand election records. No substantive rulings have been issued.
On Jan. 23, McBurney set a March 9 hearing to resolve the cost dispute. Five days later, FBI agents arrived unannounced and seized the records directly under a magistrate-approved warrant.
The raid took place in the same county that ultimately failed to pull off its attempted high-profile prosecution of Trump before his return to the White House. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, accused him and several co-defendants of attempting to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election.
In August 2023, a grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others for alleged efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results. That case was dismissed in November after courts barred Willis and her office from pursuing it due to an “appearance of impropriety” stemming from her romantic relationship with a prosecutor she appointed to lead the case.
While officials have not said whether the search was prompted by evidence of wrongdoing or alleged obstruction in producing the records, the scope of the warrant underscores how a dispute that began with subpoenas and civil litigation has now crossed into a full federal criminal investigation involving the highest echelons of the DOJ.
The raid has drawn condemnation by several of the state’s top Democratic officials, including Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who said the nation should feel “absolutely shook” by the developments. Other Democrats, including ranking members of congressional intelligence committees, have demanded Gabbard testify before Congress about her appearance at the FBI raid.
FBI EXECUTES SEARCH WARRANT AT FULTON COUNTY ELECTION FACILITY
Meanwhile, Republican members of the State Election Board, including Janice Johnson, celebrated the FBI’s effort as one that would ultimately provide transparency to their effort to see the county’s records.
“Our subpoena is still active,” Johnson said. “We will seek confirmation that the election documents we are seeking are now in the custody of the FBI.”