Atlanta — Today, the Department of Justice unsealed the affidavit used to justify the warrant behind the FBI’s January 28 raid on Fulton County’s elections facility, where agents seized hundreds of boxes of 2020 general-election ballots and related materials.

The “evidence” described in the affidavit reveals the FBI raid “relied heavily on claims about ballots that have been widely debunked” as the New York Times reports. The claims – that Georgia Republican election officials have already investigated and rejected – appear to originate from discredited election deniers.

Fair Fight Action hosted a press briefing with legal and election experts reacting to the affidavit. Here are a few key quotes:

Andrew Weissmann, former General Counsel for the FBI, Chief of the Criminal Fraud Section of the DOJ, and Assistant United States Attorney:

“I didn’t see anything in my first read of this about the sources’ credibility – their views of the election, anything that would suggest bias, motive, inaccuracies – and that’s exactly what you have to put in. That’s ‘Brady’ material and it’s missing from my read of the affidavit. I can’t figure out how this got through any proper review.

“In the DOJ I worked in, under Republican and Democratic administrations, this is the kind of thing supervisors flag and send back. I just don’t know that I can think of another warrant where I’ve not seen such information about the sources of information included. That’s not normal, especially in something this high profile.”

Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama:

“It’s hard to see how the contents of this affidavit rise to the level of probable cause.”

Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO, Fair Fight Action:

“Now we can say definitively: the right‑wing conspiracy theorists who took credit for the Fulton ‘report’ are underlying this affidavit. These are grifters and conspiracy theorists – and now they’ve plugged themselves into the top levels of Trump’s DOJ. This is just rehashed conspiracy theories and debunked lies dressed up as ‘evidence’.

“Why are they doing this? Because Trump wants to get his hands on our votes. He said Republicans should run elections. This is a power grab, creating a pretense to interfere in the 2026 elections.”

WHAT OTHER EXPERTS ARE SAYING:

LEGAL ANALYSTS

Adam Klasfeld, Editor in Chief of All Rise News: “The probe behind the Fulton County ballot seizures came on the direct referral of Trump's 2020 Big Lie lawyer Kurt Olsen, unsealed affidavit reveals.”

Orin Kerr, Professor, Stanford Law School, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution: “In drafting a search warrant affidavit, the Fourth Amendment requires the inclusion of facts that would negate probable cause, if they exist. The government can't pick facts that, if true, could support a finding a probable cause, but omit the facts that cancel that.”

Clark Cunningham, Georgia State University law professor: “This is nothing but suspicion and conjecture. There’s nothing in this affidavit that’s evidence that any particular person acted with criminal intent [...] All this affidavit does is repeat what a number of people say they believe.”

Anthony Michael Kreis, Georgia State University constitutional law professor: “[...] It is just shocking to me that the judge didn’t second guess the musings of a partisan crank who has no real basis as a reliable source to indicate criminality.”

VOTING RIGHTS & ELECTION EXPERTS:

David Becker, Election security expert: “This affidavit was much weaker than I suspected. No allegations of intent. No allegations of election theft. No allegations of foreign interference. No allegations that the statute of limitations doesn't apply. At worst, it alleges human error, during a pandemic, that didn't affect the outcome.”

Justin Glawe, Reporter covering election deniers and their attacks on Fulton County closely: NEW: “The DOJ affidavit that led to the FBI raid of Fulton County elections is based on ‘research’ from election denial activist Kevin Moncla, who is detailed here. Moncla was once found guilty of illegally recording visitors to his home with a bathroom camera.”

Miles Taylor, Former national security official: “The basis for the FBI raid in Fulton County appears to be a lot of previously disproven allegations. In other words, the federal government seized the private ballots of American citizens based — at least in part — on conspiracy theories.”

NATIONAL ELECTED OFFICIALS

U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA): "The newly unsealed affidavit shows this search originated from the frivolous claims of Kurt Olsen, an attorney who traffics in debunked falsehoods about the 2020 election. It also makes clear there was no foreign intelligence nexus.  So why was the Director of Natl. Intelligence there?"

GEORGIA ELECTED OFFICIALS

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: “As Secretary of State, I’ve made Georgia the safest and most secure place to vote. 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.”

Mo Ivory, Fulton County Commissioner: “It relies heavily on after-the-fact theory, speculation, and reinterpretation of routine election records instead of new facts showing any criminal conduct. [...] What we found in the affidavit when it was unsealed did not provide any new evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Fulton County election workers or anybody related to the counting of the 2020 ballots.”

Background: Yesterday, ProPublica dropped a bombshell, reporting that the purported “evidence” underpinning the raid may trace back to Kevin Moncla, a discredited election denier whose claims Georgia officials have already reviewed and rejected. Despite being debunked, Moncla’s claims are resurfacing as “evidence” for federal action – Trump and his attorney continue to cite them. ProPublica reports Moncla said he was interviewed by government investigators and provided data related to his Fulton County 2020 claims. In a recorded December call, operatives tied to Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network said the DOJ “went to Kevin Moncla for that information” and “relies on a lot of our stuff” in litigation over Fulton’s 2020 records – the same records the FBI later seized.

Why it Matters: It’s been reported that the ballot seizure could help provide justification for Georgia’s MAGA-aligned State Election Board to step in and attempt a takeover of local election control in Fulton County – an alarming precedent for 2026. ​​This all lands amid Trump’s escalating rhetoric about “taking over” elections – a message many have connected to broader midterm strategy and efforts to centralize control over election administration. Just days ago, a federal judge in Oregon delivered a pointed warning about the DOJ regarding its efforts to gain access to sensitive voter data, stating the DOJ can no longer be presumed to be acting in good faith as its actions and statements contradict court filings.

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