ATLANTA — A federal judge on Tuesday unsealed the search warrant affidavit used by the FBI to justify its January 28 raid on the Fulton County election warehouse, revealing that the bureau relied heavily on 2020 election fraud claims that have been repeatedly debunked by state officials, audits, and courts.
The 23-page document, authored by FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans, provides the first official look into the justification for the unprecedented seizure of nearly 700 boxes of election materials, including all physical ballots from the 2020 presidential race. According to the filing, the investigation “originated” from a referral by Kurt Olsen, a White House attorney and “Director of Election Security and Integrity” who previously sought to overturn the 2020 election results in the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Foundation of “Recycled Rumors”
The unsealed affidavit cites five primary “deficiencies or defects” in the Fulton County vote tabulation. These include allegations of “pristine” ballots that appeared un-creased, missing digital ballot images, and claims of double-scanned ballots during the recount. However, legal experts and Georgia election officials were quick to point out that these allegations had been thoroughly investigated as early as 2021.
“These accusations have been debunked, but here we go again on a merry-go-round,” said Robb Pitts, chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Pitts characterized the evidence as “recycled rumors, lies, and untruths.”
The affidavit relies on testimony from 11 witnesses, many of whom are known conservative activists and election skeptics. Among them is Joe Rossi, a “citizen researcher” whose claims about mismatched ballot image totals were previously reviewed by the Georgia State Election Board. While the board issued a letter of reprimand to Fulton County in 2024 for administrative errors, it found no evidence of fraud or intentional wrongdoing.
Legal Threshold and “Omissions”
To obtain a search warrant, the government must establish “probable cause” that a crime was committed. Critics argue that the affidavit fails this test by omitting crucial context—namely, that three separate counts of the 2020 Georgia ballots all confirmed the same result.
Stanford Law professor Orin Kerr noted on social media that the Fourth Amendment requires including facts that might undermine probable cause. “There is no meaningful effort by the government to present both sides or acknowledge facts that would undermine the government’s case,” added former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade in a statement to news outlets.
The warrant targets potential violations of federal laws regarding the retention of election records and the “knowing and willful” deprivation of a fair election process. Yet, the affidavit itself admits that previous reviews by an independent monitor found “sloppy processes” but “no evidence of fraud, intentional misconduct, or large systematic issues.”
Political Fallout and the DNI
The raid has intensified concerns over the politicization of the Justice Department. The unsealed documents confirm that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was at the site of the raid, a move that Democratic lawmakers have called “highly unusual” given the affidavit’s lack of any cited foreign intelligence threat.
Gabbard defended her presence in a letter to Congress, stating she was there to facilitate a phone call where the President personally thanked the agents for their work.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who famously resisted pressure to “find” votes in 2021, dismissed the new probe as a waste of taxpayer dollars. “The 2020 election results were fraudulent-free and have been exhaustively reviewed,” his office said in a statement. “It is time to focus on the future.”
As the legal battle over the seized ballots continues, Fulton County has filed a motion to immediately return the materials, arguing that the warrant was based on “unproven conspiracy theories” that have no place in a federal criminal investigation.
Sources and Links
- The Guardian: Debunked claims from election deniers influenced FBI raid in Georgia, affidavit reveals
- The Washington Post: FBI cited debunked claims to obtain warrant for Fulton County vote records
- Democracy Docket: FBI’s Fulton County raid was based on reams of debunked 2020 fraud claims
- NPR/WUFT: The FBI seizure of Georgia 2020 election ballots relies on debunked claims
- Mother Jones: The FBI’s Fulton County Raid Was Based on Debunked Claims By Election Deniers
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