Newly unsealed federal warrants in Georgia reveal that the FBI launched a criminal investigation into aspects of the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County, focusing on whether election irregularities may have involved intentional violations of federal law.
Court records filed in U.S. District Court show the FBI sought and obtained warrants to seize a broad range of election materials from Fulton County, including physical ballots and envelopes, damaged and provisional ballots, advance voting records, tabulator tapes, ballot images, and voter rolls. The investigation centers on the election won nationally by Joe Biden over Donald Trump.
In the warrant application, FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans stated that the records were sealed because they relate to an ongoing criminal investigation that was not public at the time. He warned that premature disclosure could jeopardize the probe by allowing potential targets to destroy evidence, alter behavior, alert associates, or flee prosecution. According to the filing, the investigation is examining whether any alleged improprieties during the election were intentional acts that violated federal criminal statutes.
The warrants list eleven witnesses, whose identities remain redacted. One witness, identified only as a poll worker, told investigators she received boxes of ballots with broken security seals. When she questioned the issue, she was reportedly told by an unidentified individual that the seals “did not matter,” raising concerns about chain-of-custody procedures.
Tabulator data also emerged as a key focus of the investigation. Questions surrounding unsigned tabulation tapes accounting for approximately 315,000 votes in Fulton County surfaced during a December meeting of the Georgia State Election Board. An attorney representing the county’s elections office acknowledged the issue and said new procedures were implemented to prevent similar problems in future elections. The State Election Board later referred the matter to the Georgia attorney general’s office.
A cybersecurity expert consulted by investigators reportedly found that one tabulator appeared to have been used to close out 15 machines across 12 different locations, leading him to suspect the recorded times may have been manipulated.
The warrant also cited a January 2021 report from Seven Hills Strategies, which criticized Fulton County’s absentee ballot handling as “extremely sloppy” and riddled with chain-of-custody deficiencies.
Georgia was decided by a margin of 11,780 votes in favor of Biden, contributing 16 electoral votes to his overall 306–232 Electoral College victory. While multiple recounts and audits failed to overturn the certified results, the newly revealed warrants indicate federal investigators continued examining whether procedural failures crossed into criminal conduct.
