A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Justice Department’s bid to subpoena the names of the 2020 election workers in Fulton County, Georgia, which was at the center of President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of a stolen election.
In his 28-page order, Judge William Ray II, a Trump-appointed judge in the Northern District of Georgia, called the scope of personal information sought by the Justice Department “staggering,” and wrote that releasing it “threatens to chill participation in future elections, which will surely impact Fulton County.” In a footnote, Ray noted this year is also an election year, adding, “Fulton County will need many workers and volunteers to effectively run the General Election come November.”
Ray added that the records sought by the Justice Department could not lead to any viable charges because the statute of limitations for any alleged crime related to the 2020 elections has long expired.
In a statement provided to MS NOW, a Justice Department spokesperson said Ray’s ruling “is at odds with numerous holdings of the Supreme Court,” adding, “Because the court’s order jeopardizes both the historic purview of the grand jury and a long-delayed assessment of 2020 election processes, the Department is considering all options to challenge.”
Ray’s ruling comes after the Justice Department obtained an April subpoena seeking the names, positions, residential addresses and emails, and personal phone numbers of a wide range of people involved in voting and reviewing election results in Fulton County. Lawyers for the county moved to quash the subpoena in early May, arguing it was improper, overly broad and “an arbitrary fishing expedition” — a characterization Ray agreed with in his Tuesday ruling.
The Trump administration has been heavily focused on litigating claims of a stolen election in Fulton County for months now, and through multiple legal avenues.
The Justice Department filed a separate lawsuit against Fulton County in December seeking ballots and other voting records related to the 2020 election. The following month, the FBI executed a search warrant, with then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in attendance, at the Fulton County elections offices near Atlanta. A copy of the warrant obtained and verified by MS NOW showed the federal government was seeking evidence of voter fraud and violations of a misdemeanor federal statute requiring elections officials to retain records related to presidential elections for 22 months.
Fulton County subsequently filed a motion seeking the return of the 2020 election materials and ballots the FBI seized, but a different federal judge ruled in May that the government did not have to return those.
Earlier this month, MS NOW reported that the FBI is considering the Georgia election probe a “priority” and surging resources into the case, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Trump and more than a dozen others were indicted on felony charges alleging they conspired to overturn the election results in Georgia, but the case was ultimately dismissed.
Fallon Gallagher contributed reporting.
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