Fulton County to seek return of 2020 ballots seized by FBI

Fulton County, Ga., will ask a federal court on Friday for the return of 2020 election ballots seized by the FBI.

The hearing in a federal court in Atlanta is expected to examine the evidence behind the FBI's seizure of more than 600 boxes of election ballots during its search of Fulton County’s election center in January, Reuters reported.

The FBI search of the election center was ​attended by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and was part of the Trump administration's investigation of the 2020 presidential election.

Fulton County's lawyers have challenged the search in court, arguing it was a “callous disregard” of the county’s rights under ​the U.S. Constitution and relied on previously debunked allegations.

“Despite years of investigations of the 2020 election," the FBI had not “identified facts that establish probable cause that anyone committed a crime," Fulton County's attorneys wrote in a court filing.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee agreed to hear evidence at Friday’s ​hearing about the search, but denied Fulton County’s request to have the FBI agent who drafted the affidavit supporting the warrant testify.

The Justice Department has accused Fulton County officials of trying to disrupt an active investigation, arguing that the county should ‌not ⁠be able to override a magistrate judge’s ruling that the search was legally justified.

FBI agents seized many materials related to the 2020 election from the election center in Union City, Ga., including original ballots. Federal authorities cited alleged “deficiencies or defects” with the 2020 election, including claims that some digital images of ballots were missing, and some absentee ballots did not appear to have ​been folded as required.