Fulton County lawsuit planned over FBI search of election records hub

Attorneys in Fulton County, Georgia, are preparing to file a lawsuit following the FBI’s recent search of an election center and seizure of documents related to the 2020 election.

Fulton County Commissioner Marvin S. Arrington, Jr. announced Monday the county’s intention to challenge the search in court.

Arrington said the county would file a petition in the Northern District of Georgia challenging “the legality of the warrant and seizure of sensitive election materials, and force the government to return the collected ballots.”

“I have asked the County Attorney to take every action available to fight this criminal search warrant,” Arrington said in a statement, according to multiple reports. “The search warrant, I believe, is not appropriate, but I think there are ways to limit it. We want to seek forensic examination, we want the documents to remain in the state of Georgia under seal, and we want to do everything we can to protect voter information.”

FBI AGENTS SEARCH ELECTION CENTER IN FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA

Ballots arrive at the Fulton County Election Center and Operations Center on election night on November 5, 2024 in Fairburn, Georgia. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

This announcement comes after FBI agents executed an arrest warrant at the Fulton County Election Center and Operations Center in Union City, Georgia, on January 28. The center was opened by state officials in 2023 and was designed to streamline the election process. The center’s search warrant, which was reviewed by Fox News, led to the seizure of records, voter rolls and other data related to the 2020 election.

Fulton County is the most populous county in Georgia and includes the capital Atlanta. The county was at the center of election fraud complaints following the 2020 election, which President Donald Trump lost. The allegations did not stand up to court scrutiny.

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FBI investigators near a crime scene in their official jackets. (Getty Images)

In December 2025, the Department of Justice sued Fulton County for access to ballots related to the 2020 election. However, the county is fighting the lawsuit and claims the DOJ has not presented a valid argument for access to the ballots.

“They obtained copies of our voter rolls and all the original ballots,” Arrington said, according to WLUK-TV. “Now we can’t verify that we got everything back because no chain of custody inventory was done at the time the documents were seized.”

Trump confirmed last week that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was present during the FBI’s search of the Fulton County facility for matters related to election security.

Trump and several others were indicted by a Fulton County Superior Court grand jury in 2023 on allegations that they engaged in a racketeering scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 election. However, the case never went to trial, as Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis was disqualified from prosecuting the case. The Prosecutors’ Council, an independent entity, then decided to dismiss the indictment.

Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis attends a hearing in the case State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

Despite scrutiny of the recent search from Democrats, FBI Director Kash Patel defended the bureau’s actions, saying investigators conducted a “thorough” investigation before the search took place.

“The FBI follows the facts and the law, and President Trump and the Attorney General have given us a clear mandate to reduce crime in this country and investigate anything that rises to the level of probable cause,” Patel said.Saturday in America“.

“THE FBI and DOJ went in and gathered a lot of evidence that the judge allowed us to gather,” Patel added later.

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The director said investigators were reviewing a “voluminous” amount of information gathered during the search as the investigation continues.

Fox News Digital has contacted Arrington and the DOJ for comment.

David Spunt of Fox News and Breanne Deppisch, Ashley Oliver, Alec Schemmel and Madison Colombo of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.