Fulton County To Sue Trump Administration Over Seizure Of 2020 Election Records

Fulton County, Georgia, attorneys are readying to record a suit successful national tribunal Monday against nan FBI and Justice Department complete a hunt warrant that nan FBI executed astatine an predetermination hub past week seeking records related to nan 2020 statesmanlike election.

Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. announced successful a news merchandise that nan region plans to record a mobility successful nan Northern District of Georgia challenging "the legality of nan warrant and nan seizure of delicate predetermination records, and unit nan authorities to return nan ballots taken," nan merchandise said.

“I’ve asked nan region lawyer to return immoderate and each steps disposable to conflict this criminal hunt warrant,” Arrington said successful a statement. “The hunt warrant, I believe, is not proper, but I deliberation that location are ways that we tin limit it. We want to inquire for forensic accounting, we want nan documents to enactment successful nan State of Georgia nether seal, and we want to do immoderate we tin to protect elector information.”

According to nan announcement, FBI agents seized hundreds of boxes of ballots, ballot images and elector rolls nether nan hunt warrant. Arrington said successful his connection that a abstracted tribunal bid had allowed nan FBI to only transcript records.

“They sewage copies of our elector rolls and each nan original ballots,” Arrington said. “Now we cannot verify that we’ve received everything backmost because location was nary chain-of-custody inventory taken astatine nan clip nan records were seized.”

The FBI didn't instantly respond to NBC News' petition for comment.

The hunt warrant was executed past Wednesday astatine nan Fulton County predetermination hub. The FBI’s Atlanta section agency confirmed nan activity and said an “investigation into this matter is ongoing truthful location are nary specifications that we tin supply astatine nan moment.” The chair of nan Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Robb Pitts, said he didn't cognize wherever nan records were being taken.

Asked astir nan FBI’s seizure of nan records, Director Kash Patel said successful an question and reply connected Fox News past week, “The FBI and nan DOJ went successful and collected galore pieces of grounds that nan judge authorized america to collect, and what we’re going to do adjacent is spell done nan voluminous amounts of accusation collected and proceed our investigation. At this point, there’s not overmuch much I tin opportunity publicly.”

Trump mislaid Georgia successful nan 2020 statesmanlike election, which he has continued to declare was stolen from him. Georgia was among a number of states successful which he tried to overturn nan predetermination results.