ATLANTA: The FBI relied on years-old claims about the 2020 presidential election, many of which had been thoroughly investigated and found to have no connection to widespread fraud, to obtain a search warrant for seizing ballots from election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, according to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday that shows the case began with a referral from an administration official who tried to help President Donald Trump overturn his election loss.
The affidavit provides the first public justification for an FBI search last month that targeted a county Trump and his allies have long seen as central to their false claim that the 2020 election was stolen. It cites claims that for years have been made by people who assert widespread fraud in the contest, even though audits, state officials, courts and Trump’s own former attorney general have all rejected the idea of widespread problems that could have altered the outcome.
The investigation was initiated by a referral from Kurt Olsen, who advised Trump as his campaign and supporters lost dozens of lawsuits challenging the 2020 election and now serves as Trump’s “director of election security and integrity” overseeing the attempt to investigate Trump’s loss, according to the affidavit.
The search of the heavily Democratic county stirred immediate concerns among Democrats that Trump was marshaling the powers of the FBI and Justice Department to pursue retribution over his persistent claims of a
Read More