A U.S. District Judge, J.P. Boulee, ruled on Wednesday that the Department of Justice can retain more than 600 boxes of 2020 election ballots seized during an FBI search in January. This decision marks a rare court victory for the Trump administration as it continues to pursue President Donald Trump's unproven claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta, had requested the return of original copies of the seized materials, arguing that the FBI's search relied on flawed evidence and violated constitutional protections.
Judge Boulee acknowledged that the FBI affidavit used to secure permission for the search was "far from perfect" and contained flaws, but concluded that these shortcomings did not meet the legal standard of "callous disregard" for the county's rights necessary to return the records. He specifically wrote that this was not a situation where an officer intentionally lied or omitted facts to undermine probable cause. The investigation, however, faces significant hurdles as DOJ lawyers have not identified individual targets and the statute of limitations appears to have expired for the crimes under investigation.
The FBI agents seized the original 2020 ballots and other records from the county's election center in Union City, Georgia, citing alleged "deficiencies or defects" with the 2020 vote. Claims included missing digital images of ballots and absentee ballots not appearing to be folded as required. The investigation began with a referral from Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who assisted Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In an unusual move, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, attended the search.
Separately, Fulton County also filed a motion to quash an April 20 subpoena from the Justice Department for the names, addresses, and phone numbers of election workers. The county argued that this subpoena was an attempt to target and harass perceived political enemies of President Trump and that it threatened the First Amendment rights of election workers. This subpoena is part of the ongoing federal investigations into "irregularities" during the 2020 election in Fulton County, which President Trump and his allies have repeatedly targeted with unfounded claims of fraud.
