An affidavit justifying the FBI’s search of Fulton County’s election offices was unsealed Tuesday, shedding light on why federal agents seized ballots and election materials tied to the 2020 election.
U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, a Trump appointee, ordered the documents released after the government carried out the January search of county facilities.
In the affidavit, FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans wrote that while some claims about 2020 election improprieties “have been disproven,” others “have been substantiated, including through admissions by Fulton County.” The warrant, he said, is part of a criminal investigation into whether any of those issues were intentional and violated federal law.
The investigation originated from a referral by former Trump campaign lawyer Kurt Olsen, who joined the administration in October.
The FBI’s warrant authorized agents to seize physical ballots, tabulator tapes, ballot images, and voter rolls from Fulton County’s 2020 general election.
Evans wrote there was probable cause to believe “unknown persons” may have violated federal laws requiring election officials to preserve records for 22 months after a federal election and prohibiting actions that “knowingly and willfully deprive” citizens of a fair election process.
“If these deficiencies were the result of intentional action, it would be a violation of federal law regardless of whether the failure to retain records or the deprivation of a fair tabulation of a vote was outcome determinative,” the affidavit stated.
Among the deficiencies under investigation, Evans noted Fulton County admitted it does not have scanned images for all ballots — 528,777 from the original count and 527,925 from the recount.
County officials pushed back. County attorney Y. Soo Jo wrote in a Feb. 5 memo that claims of fraud or invalid results had been “exhaustively reviewed and, without exception, refuted,” citing 11 post-election lawsuits that failed to prove fraud.
The affidavit also revealed Fulton County admitted tabulator tapes for 315,000 ballots were not properly signed. County attorney Ann Brumbaugh said during a Dec. 9, 2025 meeting that the county did “not dispute that the tapes were not signed,” according to Atlanta News First.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defended the state’s election process in December, saying Georgia has “the most secure elections in the country” and that a clerical error does not erase valid votes.
Meanwhile, President Trump is now seeking more than $6.2 million in legal fees after the election interference case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — who was later disqualified — was dismissed in November.
The unsealed affidavit shows the FBI wasn’t acting on rumors or headlines, but on documented admissions and potential violations of federal law. And as more details come out, it’s becoming harder to pretend that questions about the 2020 election were just political theater. Whatever the final outcome, one thing is clear: the truth is finally being dragged into the light — and that’s exactly how accountability is supposed to work.
