Search warrant FBI served at elections office near Atlanta seeks records
tied to the 2020 elections
[January 29, 2026]
By KATE BRUMBACK
ATLANTA (AP) — The FBI on Wednesday searched the election office of a
Georgia county that has been central to right-wing conspiracy theories
over President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, acting just one week
after the Republican leader predicted prosecutions over a contest he has
baselessly insisted was tainted by widespread fraud.
The search at Fulton County’s main election facility in Union City
sought records related to the 2020 election. It appeared to be the most
public step by law enforcement to pursue Trump’s claims of a stolen
election, grievances rejected time and again by courts and state and
federal officials, who found no evidence of fraud that would have
altered the outcome.
It also unfolds against the backdrop of FBI and Justice Department
efforts to investigate perceived political enemies of Trump, including
former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia
James.
Trump has for years focused on Fulton, Georgia’s most populous county
and a Democratic stronghold, as a key example of what he claims went
wrong in the 2020 election. His pressure campaign there culminated in a
sweeping state indictment accusing him and 18 others of illegally trying
to overturn the vote.
The search
FBI agents secured an area around the large warehouse building that
houses the county elections hub with yellow tape and could be seen
loading boxes from the building into trucks. FBI spokesperson Jenna
Sellitto confirmed that the boxes contained ballots. Among the 2020
election documents sought are ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners
used to tally the ballots, electronic ballot images and voter rolls.
An FBI spokesperson said agents were “executing a court authorized law
enforcement action” at the county’s main election office in Union City,
just south of Atlanta. The spokesperson declined to provide any further
information, citing an ongoing matter.
State and county Democratic officials expressed concern about the search
and ballot seizures.
“We don't know why they took them, and we don't know where they're
taking them to,” county Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts said.
The Justice Department had no immediate comment. FBI Co-Deputy Director
Andrew Bailey and U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard
were seen onsite.
Trump's focus on Fulton County
Trump has long insisted that the 2020 election was stolen even though
judges across the country and his own attorney general said they found
no evidence of widespread fault that tipped the contest in Democrat Joe
Biden’s favor.
The president has made Georgia, one of the battleground states he lost
in 2020, a central target for his complaints about the election and
memorably pushed its secretary of state to help “find” enough votes to
overturn the contest.
Last week, in reference to the 2020 election, he asserted that “people
will soon be prosecuted for what they did.” It was not clear what in
particular he was referring to.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in August 2023 obtained an
indictment against Trump and 18 others, accusing them of participating
in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn the results of the
2020 presidential election. That case was dismissed in November after
courts barred Willis and her office from pursuing it because of an
“appearance of impropriety” stemming from a romantic relationship she
had with a prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.
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FBI agents are seen at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation
Center, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Union City, Ga, near Atlanta.
(AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The FBI last week moved to replace its top agent in Atlanta, Paul W.
Brown, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss a non-public personnel decision.
It was not immediately clear why the move, which was not publicized
by the FBI, was made.
DOJ lawsuit
The warrant is a criminal document, but the Justice Department last
month sued the clerk of the Fulton County superior and magistrate
courts in federal court seeking access to documents from the 2020
election in the county. The lawsuit said the department sent a
letter to the clerk, Che Alexander, but that she had failed to
produce the requested documents.
Alexander has filed a motion to dismiss the suit. The Justice
Department complaint says that the purpose of its request was
“ascertaining Georgia’s compliance with various federal election
laws.” It also says the attorney general is trying to help the State
Election Board with its “transparency efforts under Georgia law.”
A three-person conservative majority on the State Election Board has
repeatedly sought to reopen a case alleging wrongdoing by Fulton
County during the 2020 election. It passed a resolution in July
seeking assistance from the U.S. attorney general to access voting
materials.
The state board sent subpoenas to the county board for various
election documents last year and again on Oct. 6. The October
subpoena requested “all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots,
signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files from
the 2020 General Election in Fulton County.” A fight over the state
board's efforts to enforce the 2024 subpoena is currently tied up in
court.
The Justice Department sent a letter to the county election board
Oct. 30 citing the federal Civil Rights Act and asking for all
records responsive to the October subpoena from the State Election
Board. Lawyers for the county election board responded about two
weeks later, saying that the records are held by the county court
clerk. They also attached a letter the clerk sent to the State
Election Board saying that the records are under seal in accordance
with state law and can’t be released without a court order.
The Justice Department said it then sent a letter to Alexander, the
clerk, on Nov. 21 requesting the documents and that she failed to
respond.
The department is asking a judge to declare that the clerk’s
“refusal to provide the election records upon a demand by the
Attorney General” violates the Civil Rights Act. It is also asking
the judge to order Alexander to produce the requested records within
five days of a court order.
___
Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington and photographer
Mike Stewart in Union City, Georgia, contributed.
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