Judge says Justice Department can keep the 2020 election ballots seized by the FBI from Fulton County

Justice DepartmentJudge says Justice Department can keep the 2020 election ballots seized by the FBI from Fulton CountyThe judge ruled that the Georgia county had not demonstrated that the federal government acted with “callous disregard” in taking the ballots.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Georgia state officials outside the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center following the FBI search in relation to the 2020 election, in Union City, Ga. in January.Alyssa Pointer / Reuters fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 6, 2026, 10:04 PM EDTBy Gary Grumbach and Raquel Coronell UribeA federal judge on Wednesday blocked the return of more than 600 boxes’ worth of 2020 general election ballots the FBI seized this year from an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee wrote in a 68-page order that there was not enough evidence to prove the rights of county officials were “callously disregarded” — a legal standard in the case. He ruled that the county had not demonstrated a need for the ballots or that it would be irreparably harmed without them.At the same time, the judge was critical of how the FBI obtained the ballots in a state President Donald Trump has falsely claimed he won in 2020.“This Court acknowledges that the events leading up to this case are, in a variety of ways, unprecedented,” Boulee wrote, later adding that “the seizure in this case was certainly not perfect.”Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts responded to the ruling saying the county intends “to pursue all available legal options.”“I certainly agree with the court that the FBI warrant was ‘defective’ ‘problematic’ and ‘troubling,’ and that the events in this case are ‘unprecedented,’” Pitts said in a statement. “But I strongly disagree with the judge’s denial of Fulton County’s request for the FBI to return the election records it wrong...