FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA — Attorneys for Fulton County, Georgia are set to argue in federal court on Friday for the return of over 650 boxes of material related to the 2020 election. Last month, the FBI executed a search warrant at a Fulton County elections office seeking to take all physical ballots from the 2020 vote as well as tapes from vote-tabulating machines, ballot images and voter rolls.

Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts and the county's Board of Registration and Elections filed a lawsuit to compel the return of the boxes. The county asked the judge to order the return of all original seized materials and to instruct the government to maintain but not review any copies of the seized materials until the matter is resolved.

In court filings, Fulton County argued that the Justice Department's search and seizure of documents violated the county's Fourth Amendment rights and intruded on the state's role in elections. Fulton County argued in court filings that the government's conduct had deprived petitioners of their constitutional rights and that the injury would continue if the records were not returned to their lawful custodian.

The Justice Department argued in court filings ahead of Friday's evidentiary hearing that Fulton County's goal was to "disrupt an ongoing federal investigation" and asked Judge Jean-Paul Boulee to deny the county's motion. The Justice Department said it was "scrupulously careful" to comply with Fourth Amendment concerns raised by the county and said it searched the county's election offices "only after obtaining a warrant based on a magistrate judge's probable-cause determination."

In court filings, the Justice Department said it is investigating irregularities during the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County, focused on whether election records were properly maintained and whether there was procurement, casting or tabulation of fraudulent ballots in 2020. Fulton County argued in court filings that the affidavit did not identify facts establishing probable cause of a crime and indicated that evidence would result only if certain hypotheticals were true.

On Thursday, Judge Jean-Paul Boulee ruled that he would not compel the FBI agent who submitted the sworn affidavit supporting the search of Fulton County's election hub to testify at the hearing. Last month, Judge Jean-Paul Boulee attempted to compel Fulton County and the Justice Department to mediate the dispute but the mediation failed, leading to Friday's hearing.

An affidavit by an FBI agent unsealed earlier this month detailed the legal basis for the search and said the investigation was initiated following a referral from an attorney who worked to overturn the 2020 election results. The affidavit said the current investigation originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, whom the FBI describes as a "Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity."

In 2020, Kurt Olsen, as an attorney, worked with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to urge the Supreme Court to overturn the election results. In 2022, Kurt Olsen was subpoenaed by the House January 6 Committee, which was investigating the aftermath of the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.