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)
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A federal judge on Monday denied a request by Fulton County officials to force the government to reveal internal communications and timelines regarding the FBI's seizure of 2020 election records.
Federal court blocks access to FBI investigation details
What we know:
U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee issued a ruling Monday denying Fulton County’s "Post-Hearing Motion for Additional Evidence." The county was seeking answers to two specific questions: when the criminal investigation began and when attorney Kurt Olsen referred the matter to the FBI. Additionally, the county wanted to see if Department of Justice officials discussed using a criminal warrant specifically to bypass delays in ongoing civil lawsuits.
The judge, a 2019 appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that while the law allows a court to "receive evidence" to decide if property should be returned, it does not give the court the power to force the government to create or hand over investigative files in this specific way.
What we don't know:
We do not yet know if the FBI will eventually be forced to return the more than 600 boxes of records. It is also unclear if the county will successfully gather this information through other legal channels, such as a "Touhy request," which is a formal demand for government records.
The backstory:
The legal battle began on Jan. 28, when the FBI seized boxes of 2020 election records from Fulton County. The county has been fighting to get those records returned.
During a March hearing, attorneys for the county claimed investigators used an affidavit "full of lies" to get a search warrant. They argued the seizure was based on the same "falsehoods and accusations" that have circulated since the 2020 election. The federal government has consistently maintained that there is no evidence agents misled the court to get the warrant.
What they're saying:
Judge Boulee noted that past cases suggest high-level discovery is improper in these types of proceedings because it would be "tantamount to extraordinary pre-indictment discovery of the Government's investigation."
What's next:
The judge has given Fulton County until April 27 to submit any additional evidence they are able to gather on their own. After that deadline, the court will close the evidence period and issue a final decision on whether the FBI must return the 2020 election materials to the county.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a federal court order filed April 13, 2026, in the Northern District of Georgia and previous FOX 5 Atlanta reporting on the March evidentiary hearing.