FBI deploys hundreds to probe Georgia’s 2020 election records

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reassigning hundreds of analysts to assist with an ongoing investigation into Fulton County’s 2020 election records, according to an internal memo first obtained by MS NOW. The case is a “priority effort” for FBI Director Kash Patel.

Roughly 260 intelligence officers will be directed to the case from all FBI field offices, MS Now is reporting. Each analyst will be expected to check a total of 708 records by July 17. The memo authorized weekend and holiday overtime pay, according to MS NOW.

The FBI’s Atlanta office declined to comment.

The surge in personnel signals an increasing emphasis on an ongoing investigation into Fulton County, which was at the center of President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to rampant voter fraud in Georgia and other swing states. Two recounts, including one done by hand, affirmed former President Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia. 

In January, the FBI raided the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Union City, just south of Atlanta, seizing roughly 700 boxes of 2020 election documents. A 19-page affidavit used by the FBI to justify the raid relied heavily on debunked theories about irregularities in the 2020 election.

U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, an Atlanta Democrat, condemned the move in a letter to Patel and acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“This sweeping deployment of FBI agents and resources to Atlanta to investigate the 2020 election results is another troubling sign of a pattern in this administration to attempt to toss out, overturn, or cast doubt on election results that do not fit partisan narratives,” Williams wrote.

“I condemn these efforts in the strongest possible terms and oppose the Department of Justice putting the American people’s safety at risk by taking away our country’s agents to assist in the President’s witch hunt,” she added.

Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said the county had not been notified about any updates in the investigation.

“They seized the documents in January so I can only assume they’ve been looked at thoroughly since that time,” he said in a statement Thursday. “This latest move is a desperate attempt to prolong an investigation that — I believe — has only confirmed what I have said all along: Fulton County ran a transparent and fair election in 2020. There was no wrongdoing.”