‘Flagrant constitutional violation’: Fulton County rebuts evidence behind FBI election hub raid
FBI agents load roughly 700 boxes of 2020 election ballots and records into trucks during a criminal investigation into alleged voting irregularities at the Fulton County Elections Hub in Union City, Georgia, on January 28, 2026. (FOX 5)
ATLANTA - Fulton County officials filed an amended motion on Tuesday demanding the immediate return of 2020 election records seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a raid on the election hub in late January.
Fulton County: FBI showed ‘callous disregard’ in raid
What we know:
The county called the federal search warrant used by the Department of Justice a "callous disregard" for constitutional rights.
The legal challenge, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, argues that the FBI obtained the warrant using a "possible cause" theory that relied on speculative witness statements and ignored official reports that had already cleared the county of intentional wrongdoing.
Fulton County officials allege the warrant unsealed and served on Jan. 28, is "unprecedented in American history."
Fulton County Commissioners Chair Rob Pitts and Registration and Elections Board Chair Sherri Allen outside an FBI raid at the Fulton County elections center on January 28, 2026. (FOX 5 News)
The motion claims the affidavit submitted by FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans failed to establish that any crime actually occurred. Instead, the county argues the FBI relied on hypotheticals, twice stating in the affidavit: "If these deficiencies were the result of intentional action, it would be a violation of federal law."
"Mislabeling an expected margin of error as 'deficiencies' or 'defects' cannot establish probable cause, let alone a seizure of this magnitude," the motion states.
The county’s attorneys argue that the FBI "recklessly" omitted material facts from its warrant application. The motion lays forth that investigators ignored benign explanations for election irregularities.
The FBI affidavit suggested "unfolded" absentee ballots were suspicious. However, election technology expert Ryan Macias noted in a supporting declaration that military and overseas ballots are typically printed on normal paper and transcribed onto ballot stock by workers, meaning they are "typically not folded."
The county claims the FBI used a misleading internal "running document" tallying 511,343 ballots to imply a discrepancy with the final 527,925 count. The county explained the lower number was an internal report from a date when thousands of ballots remained unscanned due to a programming error.
The motion alleges the FBI failed to disclose that Kurt Olsen, whose referral sparked the investigation, has been sanctioned by multiple courts for "unsubstantiated, speculative claims about elections."
The county further argues the seizure was unreasonable because the five-year statutes of limitations for the investigated offenses, election record retention and election fraud, have already expired.
Additionally, the motion claims the federal seizure "effectively enjoined" an ongoing state court proceeding. On Dec. 19, 2025, a Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ordered the county to provide the Georgia State Elections Board with these same records. Because the FBI took the originals rather than making copies, the state court was forced to stay its case.
"We are all left to hope the Bureau and the Department of Justice [must] handle the ballots and related records with the care required to preserve and protect their integrity," Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney stated when issuing the stay.
The petitioners are asking the court for the immediate return of all original seized materials and any copies and detailed verifications as well as chain-of-custody documentation of how the records were handled.
"This flagrant constitutional violation compels immediate equitable relief from this Court," the motion states.
The county maintains that while it has acknowledged "innocent errors or inefficiencies" in the past, it has never admitted to intentional impropriety regarding the 2020 election.
FBI raid on Fulton County Election's headquarters
The backstory:
On Jan. 28, 2026, the FBI executed an "unprecedented" raid on the Fulton County Elections Hub in Union City seizing nearly 700 boxes of 2020 election records
Agents arrived south of Atlanta with a search warrant signed by Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas to seize the original copies of Fulton County's 2020 presidential election records.
The warrant covered all physical ballots, tabulator tapes, electronic ballot images from counts and recounts, and comprehensive voter rolls.
The search was notable for the presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, despite her lack of domestic law enforcement authority, which critics have called a "soft coup" attempt.
The investigation began with a referral from Kurt Olsen, a presidentially appointed official who previously advised on efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.
The 23-page unsealed document focuses on "deficiencies or defects," including Fulton’s admission that it lacks images for all 528,777 ballots cast and claims that some ballots were scanned multiple times during the recount.
FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans stated that even if the irregularities were not outcome-determinative, they could be federal violations if they were the result of "intentional action."
The NAACP and allied groups have asked a judge to restrict the use of seized voter data, specifically to bar it from being used for immigration enforcement or improper voter roll purges.
Hearing scheduled
What's next:
An evidentiary hearing will be held on Feb. 27 at 9 a.m.
The Source: The details in this article come from federal court documents and previous FOX 5 Atlanta reporting.