Newly released police body camera footage shows confusion as FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operations Center near Atlanta last week.
The roughly 90-second footage, obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the Fulton County Police Department, captures county officials asking about the scope of the FBI’s investigation and details of the search warrant as the operation began on Jan. 28.
One county official is heard emphasizing that the county was given limited information before the FBI agents arrived. The official asks Peter Ellis, the acting head of the FBI’s Atlanta field office, whether the search was related to the 2020 election.
“Well you know why we’re here right? So we can’t, I can’t discuss more,” Ellis responds.
In the video, local police and county attorneys repeatedly ask about whether the hard copy of the warrant is correct. County officers and elections staffers are heard questioning FBI agents about where the warrant authorized them to search and what specific materials were covered.
Fulton County Elections Director Nadine Williams is heard saying in another clip that the FBI’s search warrant was inaccurate.
“It had the wrong department,” Williams said. “The attorneys asked them for it. They finally gave them a copy. Then the attorney is like, ‘It’s wrong,’ so they’re allegedly waiting for the judge to update it.”
A federal agent appears to clarify that the warrant needed to be amended “slightly” by Fulton County’s clerk of courts, Che Alexander, so that agents could avoid having to breach gates throughout the facility.
“One way or another, the records are coming with us today,” the agent said.
The FBI ultimately seized 700 boxes of materials and voter data linked to the 2020 presidential election. A day after the search, Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections Chair Sherri Allen told reporters that “nothing was explained to us, and it was difficult even getting a copy of the warrant,” adding the county was unaware of where the records were taken.
President Donald Trump has continued to claim falsely that widespread voter fraud cost him the 2020 election in Georgia, despite multiple audits proving that Joe Biden won. He double-downed on those claims on Monday and said, without elaborating, that people are “going to see some interesting things come out” amid the FBI’s latest investigation.
Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. again refuted Trump’s baseless claims on Monday and announced that officials plan to file a motion in federal court challenging the FBI’s seizure of the election materials. The county argues that while the FBI was authorized to copy records under a separate court order, agents instead took the original copies, including in-person, absentee and provisional ballots.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at CNN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.