The FBI’s search of a Georgia campaign office and seizure of material on the 2020 presidential election was prompted by a referral sent by a former campaign lawyer for President Donald Trump, according to an affidavit that was among the documents related to the search unsealed Tuesday.
The records were made public after a federal judge directed the Department of Justice on Saturday to release the search warrant affidavit and the broader court docket in the Jan. 28 search of the Election Hub and Operation Center in Fulton County.
In the order, U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, a Trump appointee, allowed limited redactions, including hiding the names of “nongovernmental witnesses” to protect privacy.
According to the filings, the probe originated from “a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity.” Olsen, a former Trump campaign lawyer, was among the Trump supporters who pushed baseless conspiracy theories in an effort to help overturn the 2020 election results.
The affidavit centers on repeated claims that Fulton County mishandled ballots during the election. The filing cites alleged “deficiencies or defects” in vote tallies as probable cause, including alleged instances of duplicate ballots and votes being scanned multiple times.
FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans wrote in the affidavit that he did not include every detail of the investigation but “set forth facts that I believe are sufficient to establish probable cause” for the search warrant request.
The document also accused Fulton County of failing to save scanned images of each original ballot and claimed that some absentee ballots that were counted lacked the required crease or fold.
The unsealing of the records follows legal filings by county officials demanding transparency about the search from the DOJ. Agents seized hundreds of boxes of materials related to the 2020 vote, including ballots, tabulator tapes, electronic ballot images and voter rolls.
The Justice Department has not said what it did with the documents and where they are being held.
Fulton County has repeatedly maintained that its elections have been conducted lawfully and efficiently.
“As Secretary of State, I’ve made Georgia the safest and most secure place to vote. Instead of wasting time and tax dollars trying to change the past with baseless and repackaged claims, let’s focus our efforts on building a safer, more affordable future for all hardworking Georgians,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement to MS NOW on Tuesday.
Fulton County leaders, including Commission Chairman Robb Pitts, filed multiple motions in federal court last week, not only seeking to unseal the warrant and affidavit, but also to regain possession of the seized election materials. In their filings, officials argued the government’s actions could undermine public confidence in elections and violated constitutional protections. They also reiterated that they received no advance notice of the unannounced search.
The search was an unprecedented federal action in Georgia targeting records from the 2020 election, which Trump continues to falsely claim was stolen. Multiple reviews show that then-Vice President Joe Biden won the presidency and that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
The FBI’s seizure in Fulton County has become a flashpoint in broader national debates over election integrity, federal power and political influence. Critics say the investigation risks fueling misinformation about the 2020 election and could be seen as an intimidation tactic by the Trump administration.
In a separate ruling on Monday, Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney dismissed a lawsuit seeking access to the 2020 election ballots. The lawsuit was previously filed in state court by Garland Favorito, a Georgia election integrity advocate and head of the group VoterGA. He argued that the public has a legal right to inspect the physical ballots and related election materials, citing concerns about transparency and election administration.
McBurney ruled that the court could not order access to ballots that were no longer under county control due to the federal seizure.
“The Court can grant Petitioner no relief because it cannot order the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections to produce what it no longer has,” McBurney wrote in the filing. “Petition’s redress lies elsewhere: perhaps the Eastern District of Missouri or maybe the Southern District of Florida. His guess is as good as the Court’s.”
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at CNN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.