The Justice Department's explanation for seeking toraid a major election office in Georgiaand seize ballots tied to the 2020 election was made much clearer Feb. 10, after it was forced to release a document showing the arguments it used to get a search warrant.
The FBI, which is part of the DOJ, seized ballots and other records tied to the 2020 election from a Fulton County election center near Atlanta on Jan. 28. The move marked a major escalation of efforts underPresident Donald Trump's current administration to call into doubt the results of the2020 presidential election, whichTrump lostto then-former Vice PresidentJoe Biden.
The new document is the affidavit signed by FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans in the government's request for a search warrant.
"Following the November 3, 2020, presidential election, there were many allegations of electoral impropriety relating to the voting process and ballot counting in Fulton County, Georgia," Evanswrote in the affidavit.
"Some of those allegations have been disproven, while some of those allegations have been substantiated, including through admissions by Fulton County," Evans added.
Evans wrote that the FBI investigation was jump-started by a referral from an official in Trump's White House, Kurt Olsen. He was appointed by Trump as "Director of Election Security and Integrity," according to the affidavit.
"This warrant application is part of an FBI criminal investigation into whether any of the improprieties were intentional acts that violated federal criminal laws," Evans wrote.
The Justice Department filed the affidavit to a Georgia federal court for release to the public onthe order of a federal judge, who instructed government lawyers to make redactions to shield the names of non-governmental witnesses. Fulton County officials hadasked the court to release the affidavit to the public.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, defended Georgia's election processes in a statement to USA TODAY.
"As Secretary of State, I've made Georgia the safest and most secure place to vote," Raffensperger said. "Instead of wasting time and tax dollars trying to change the past with baseless and repackaged claims, let's focus our efforts on building a safer, more affordable future for all hardworking Georgians."
What potential crimes is the FBI investigating?
A federal judge in Georgia signedthe search warrant, allowing FBI agents to seize election records as part of an investigation tied to two separate criminal statutes.One of those statutesrequires election officials to keep voter registration records for 22 months after an election.The otherprohibits using threats, coercion or fraud in certain voting processes.
Around 656 boxes of original 2020 election records – as opposed to copies – were seized, according to Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington.
Fulton County has filed a court motionto get the records back.
Evans alleged in his affidavit that there are several "deficiencies or defects" with the November election and vote count that the FBI is looking into in Georgia. Those include missing scanned images of ballots, duplicated ballot scans, inaccurate hand-count tallies of votes and purported absentee ballots that weren't properly creased or folded, he said.
Evans wrote that, if the alleged problems were intentional, then they would be evidence of a crime. By seizing election records, law enforcement would be able to corroborate an analysis suggesting election records were destroyed or that false votes were counted, he said.
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White House official behind investigation helped Trump fight 2020 results
Olsen has a long history of fighting the 2020 election results. He joined the Texas attorney general's attempt to get the Supreme Court to stop four swing states from certifying Biden's 2020 victory over Trump,according to the New York Times.
Olsen was sanctioned by a federal judge in Arizona for acting in bad faith by filing a lawsuit on behalf of Trump ally Kari Lake that made baseless allegations about the reliability of voting machines in that state,according to the California-based Daily Journal.Arizona was one of several swing statesBiden won in 2020.
An appeals court decision upheld those sanctions. Appellate Judge Ronald Gould wrote that the lawsuit "made false, misleading and unsupported factual assertions" and the lawyers behind it didn't conduct a reasonable inquiry before filing it, the Daily Journal reported.
Congressional investigators found that Olsen had multiple phone calls with Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, the day a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent Biden's 2020 election victory from going into effect,Politico reported.
Trump's national intelligence chief was present at raid
Director of National IntelligenceTulsi Gabbardwas near the raid when it happened, andreportedly put Trump on the phonewith some of the FBI agents involved in the raid the next day.
That raised the eyebrows of the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees, who questioned in aJan. 29 letterwhy someone tasked with overseeing national intelligence would attend a search of an election hub in Georgia.
"The job of the director of national intelligence is to be outward-facing about foreigners, not about Americans," Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee,said on CBS News' "Face the Nation." "My fear is now (Trump) sees the political winds turning against him and he's going to try to interfere in the 2026 elections."
Gabbard said in aFeb. 2 letterthat Trump asked her to be present for the raid, and that election security is a national security issue.
Gabbard is investigating the 2020 election results, according to theWall Street Journaland theNew York Times, which each cited anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The two outlets reported that her work on the investigation has helped her be in Trump's good graces.
Speaking on "The Dan Bongino Show" on Feb. 2, Trump alluded to the raid whilesaying he won the 2020 election.
"Now you're going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get, with a court order, the ballots," Trump said. "You're going to see some interesting things come out."
Fulton County, which includes much of Atlanta, is the largest county in Georgia by population. Biden's win in that county in 2020 helped propel his win in Georgia as a whole, which had 16 presidential electoral votes. Biden won the 2020 election with 306 electoral votes, compared toTrump's 232tally.
Before Biden was inaugurated into office in January 2021, Trumptried to reverse his 2020 losses in several states, including Georgia. He and his allies filed more than 60 lawsuits. None was successful in proving there was widespread voter fraud.
In a phone call with Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, Trump said,"I just need 11,780 votes"in Georgia. Raffensperger defended the accuracy of his state's election results.
This story has been updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:DOJ shares why it raided Georgia election hub and seized 2020 ballots
