Chicago – February 17, 2026
Fulton County officials have sharply accused the U.S. Department of Justice of providing misleading information to a federal magistrate judge to secure a search warrant used last month to seize ballots and election materials from the county’s elections office.
In a court filing filed Tuesday, county leaders contend the FBI’s affidavit, which persuaded Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas to authorize the January 28 search, failed to disclose key facts that undercut claims of intentional election wrongdoing tied to the 2020 presidential contest.
They argued the document “describes types of human error” common in many elections rather than presenting clear evidence of criminal conduct — and omitted details showing prior investigations had already addressed and dismissed such concerns.
The filing also asserts that the affidavit excluded information that could call into question the credibility of witnesses whose accounts helped justify the warrant application. Among the underlying controversy is the role of Kurt Olsen, a former 2020 election skeptic now working in the White House, whose referral helped prompt the Justice Department’s criminal inquiry.
A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments next week on Fulton County’s request to return the seized materials, as tensions escalate over transparency, judicial process, and the broader implications for election administration.
