The Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center a day after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant in relation to the 2020 election in Union City, Georgia, U.S. January 29, 2026.
Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters
A federal judge in Georgia ordered documents related to a Federal Bureau of Investigation raid on an election facility in Fulton County to be unsealed by Tuesday.
The FBI raid that took place late last month was executed under a judicial warrant and resulted in troves of ballots from the 2020 election being taken into federal custody. Information related to the warrant including the affidavit must be unsealed by Tuesday, which could provide new details into the government’s interest in obtaining the ballots.
Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts and the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections are suing the federal government over the seizure of the ballots, seeking their return.
“Although Petitioners originally filed this case under seal, both parties have now indicated to the Court that they do not oppose unsealing the docket or the motions filed by Petitioners,” wrote Judge J.P. Boulee, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2019.
“Respondent has stated that it does not oppose the unsealing of the search warrant affidavit and any other papers associated with the warrant subject to the redaction of the names of nongovernmental witnesses,” Boulee added, giving the government until Tuesday to file the warrant affidavit with redactions.
The FBI raid has come under intense scrutiny in the weeks since its execution. Trump and his allies vehemently denied that he lost the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, an assertion that has proven to be false. Fulton County was central to now-debunked claims of election fraud, with the president and his surrogates continuing to make allegations of fraud to this day despite a hand recount affirming Biden’s victory in the state.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s appearance at the Georgia raid has only added to speculation, with the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee denouncing the appearance. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner and other Democrats have warned that Trump may attempt to meddle in the 2026 midterm elections.
“When you put all of this together, it is clear that what happened in Fulton County is not about revisiting the past, it is about shaping the outcome of future elections,” Warner said last week.
Gabbard has defended her appearance at the election center, writing in a letter to Warner that it was “requested” by Trump and that she only observed the operation “for a brief period of time.” Trump later said at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday that it was actually Attorney General Pam Bondi who insisted Gabbard oversee the raid.
Trump recently has been calling for a federal takeover of elections. States and local government typically run elections without interference from the federal government.
