U.S. District Judge Quashes DOJ Subpoena for Fulton County 2020 Election Worker Data

U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II on July 7 quashed a grand jury subpoena that sought the names, residential addresses, email addresses and personal phone numbers of thousands of Fulton County, Georgia, employees and volunteers who worked on the 2020 election.

The subpoena targeted people who reviewed mail-in ballots, transferred results, tabulated ballots and assisted with a later audit and recount. Ray, appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump in 2018, wrote that the breadth of the subpoena is staggering and that the statute of limitations for any possible crime arising from the 2020 election has long expired.

Ray ruled that disclosure would threaten to chill participation in future elections in Fulton County.

He added that private companies would probably face data-breach lawsuits if they failed to protect the same type of information. The Justice Department had argued it sought the information for legitimate law enforcement activities, including an investigation into whether Fulton County failed to preserve ballot images for the required period.

Fulton County officials stated the subpoena aimed to target and harass perceived political opponents.

In January the FBI seized 2020 ballots and other election records from the Fulton County Elections Hub & Operations Center. A different federal judge ruled in May that the bureau may keep those records. Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten Pels said the district court’s ruling that the probable expiration of statutes of limitations prevents the grand jury from investigating the 2020 election in Georgia is at odds with numerous holdings of the Supreme Court.

She added that the department is considering all options to challenge the ruling. An internal DOJ memo instructs the FBI to assign 260 investigative analysts and staff operations specialists to the Fulton County investigation, with each required to check an estimated 708 records by July 17.