2026-05-06T18:52:00-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻（CBS News）
作者：
雅各布·罗森 司法部记者
杰克·罗森是负责报道美国司法部的记者。此前他曾担任竞选数字记者，报道前总统特朗普2024年的竞选活动，还曾担任《玛格丽特·布伦南与本周》栏目的助理制片人。
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更新时间：2026年5月6日，美国东部时间下午7:26 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
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佐治亚州一名联邦法官驳回了佐治亚州富尔顿县官员提出的动议，该县要求归还今年早些时候经法院授权的搜查中被FBI查获的2020年选举选票及其他材料。
美国地区法官让-保罗·布利周三表示，富尔顿县的代理律师未能提供足够证据，证明本案核心的FBI搜查誓章存在“冷漠无视”该县权利的缺陷。
不过，布利法官称，这份誓章在某些方面存在“瑕疵”，其中包含了关于该县2020年最终选票计数的误导性表述，且文件中对投票机制存在“令人不安的”遗漏。
“尽管这份誓章显然远非完美，但本案并不存在执法人员隐瞒所有可能削弱合理依据的事实，或是执法人员故意撒谎的情况，”布利写道，并补充道，“本院无法认定该誓章存在如此严重的缺陷，以至于其不足之处达到了‘冷漠无视’的‘高标准’。”
布利法官的判决作出于FBI特工对富尔顿县选举办公室执行搜查令两个多月后，当时执法人员要求带走所有2020年的实体选票、投票计票机磁带、选票图像和选民登记册。作为亚特兰大所在地的深蓝县富尔顿县，是前总统乔·拜登以微弱优势赢得佐治亚州的关键地区，特朗普及其盟友长期以来毫无证据地宣称该县存在大量选举欺诈行为。
在一份长达68页的判决书中，布利承认“本案中的搜查行为显然并非完美”，并表示“导致本案发生的事件在诸多方面都是前所未有的”。但他写道，自己需要平等适用围绕法院下令搜查的法律先例。
法官驳回了富尔顿县的论点，即FBI查获选票的行为违反了该县管理选举的第十修正案权利。他同时驳回了一项主张，即在美国司法部因另一项围绕这些文件的民事法律程序遭到反对后，搜查令是“恶意”获取的。
“请愿人并未证明，无论是通过搜查令所谓的缺陷，还是通过搜查令的执行方式，他们的权利遭到了冷漠无视，”布利写道。他补充称，该县关于若不归还选举材料将造成不可弥补损害的证据“缺乏说服力”。
富尔顿县的律师和司法部发言人未立即回复置评请求。
富尔顿县今年早些时候提起诉讼，要求归还被查获的材料，并下令政府“在本案了结前，保留但不得审阅任何被查获材料的副本”。该县辩称，此次搜查“冷漠无视了该县的多项第四修正案权利”，是对州政府管理选举职权的“严重入侵”。
根据此次搜查核心的一份颇具争议的FBI搜查誓章，联邦调查局正在调查涉嫌违反两项联邦法律的行为。
其中一项法律规定，选举官员通过提交欺诈性选票或选民登记申请恐吓选民、剥夺他们公平选举权利的行为构成犯罪。另一项法律要求选举官员将联邦选举记录保留22个月。
代表该县的律师艾比·洛厄尔辩称，这两项潜在违规行为的诉讼时效已经届满。但布利法官驳回了这一论点。
尽管选举已经过去五年多，布利写道，“本院不能无视”誓章中包含的证人证词，该证词称该县拥有的选票图像可能在2024年遭到篡改。
在3月份一场激烈的听证会上，洛厄尔辩称，支持搜查令的FBI搜查誓章中“没有任何内容”能证明“存在事关富尔顿县的持续调查”。不过他确实警告称，这些选票可能被用于“一些尚未发生的未来犯罪”。
洛厄尔辩称，作为搜查核心的誓章遗漏了与选举以及该县所谓不当行为相关的“诸多内容”。富尔顿县的证人、选举专家瑞安·马西亚斯作证称，誓章中的信息“不合逻辑”。
马西亚斯表示，誓章中存在“不连贯的术语”，并作证称涉事特工和FBI“混淆了某些概念”。他告诉法庭，此次选举“已经接受过审查和调查”，而誓章只是重复了六年前早已被揭穿的谣言。
在听证会上，当被问及司法部为查获超过630箱选举材料进行辩护时，布利表示，“这一点让我相当困扰”。
“这份誓章需要做到什么程度？”布利向代表联邦政府出庭的司法部律师泰森·杜瓦问道。
杜瓦将洛厄尔的论点斥为“极其不足”，并在回应布利关于誓章缺陷的质疑时表示，“这不是在给试卷打分”。
“誓章中确实有特工本可以做得更好的地方？当然，”杜瓦说，并补充称他“可能漏掉了一两处细节”。
杜瓦还承认，FBI查获选票可能不会导致任何指控。
“如果会有起诉，那还有待观察，”他说，“之后可能会发生什么？可能什么都不会发生。”
佐治亚州官员，包括共和党州长和州务卿，多年来一直为2020年选举的公正性辩护，指出三次单独计票都确认拜登在该州击败了特朗普。佐治亚州的选举结果是特朗普试图推翻选举结果的核心焦点，而包括亚特兰大在内的富尔顿县是关键的民主党票仓。
该誓章称，当前的调查源于库尔特·奥尔森提交的转介材料，FBI将奥尔森描述为“总统任命的选举安全与诚信总监”。2020年，奥尔森作为律师曾与德克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿一同敦促最高法院推翻选举结果。
司法部在5月1日的法庭文件中披露了其刑事调查起源的更多细节，此前布利部分批准了富尔顿县官员提出的要求司法部提供更多信息的动议。
政府告诉法庭，奥尔森“不晚于”1月5日正式将调查转介给FBI，FBI于次日启动“评估程序”，约一周后亚特兰大的一名FBI官员批准了全面调查。1月22日起，一份调查摘要被转化为搜查令誓章。
洛厄尔在3月的听证会上表示，政府在誓章中引用的一名证人有犯罪记录。他还提到了针对奥尔森的两起法院制裁事件，并辩称约一半的证人可被归类为“选举否认者”。
2022年，奥尔森被众议院1月6日委员会传唤，该委员会正在调查2020年选举 aftermath以及2021年1月6日国会山袭击事件。传票称奥尔森“按照总统的指示联系了司法部的多位高级官员”，讨论对选举结果提出质疑的事宜。委员会表示，奥尔森在2021年1月6日与特朗普进行了多次电话通话。
另外，本月早些时候，富尔顿县选举登记和委员会官员要求佐治亚州一名联邦法官驳回美国司法部发出的大陪审团传票，该传票要求获取数千名协助该县2020年选举运作人员的信息。
这份于4月发出的传票由北卡罗来纳州中区的联邦检察官签发。它要求获取该县2020年选举中参与工作的选举工作人员和志愿者的个人信息，包括姓名、地址和电话号码，工作范围从驾驶投票设备的人员到选举志愿者和选票审核员。
Judge denies Fulton County’s request to return 2020 ballots seized by FBI
2026-05-06T18:52:00-0400 / CBS News
By
Jacob Rosen Justice Department Reporter
Jake Rosen is a reporter covering the Department of Justice. He was previously a campaign digital reporter covering President Trump’s 2024 campaign and also served as an associate producer for “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
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Updated on: May 6, 2026 / 7:26 PM EDT / CBS News
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A federal judge in Georgia denied a motion by officials in Fulton County, Georgia, to return ballots and other materials from the 2020 election that were taken by the FBI in a court-authorized search earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Jean-Paul Boulee said Wednesday that attorneys representing Fulton County did not establish enough evidence to prove that the FBI affidavit at the center of the case was deficient in a way that had a “callous disregard” for the county’s rights.
Boulee, however, said that the affidavit was “defective in some respects” by including misleading statements about the final ballot count in 2020 in the county, and that there were “troubling” omissions about ballot mechanisms in the documents.
“While the Affidavit was certainly far from perfect, this is not a situation where an officer left out all the facts that might undermine probable cause or where an officer intentionally lied,” Boulee wrote, adding, “the Court cannot say that the Affidavit was so deficient that its shortcomings rise to the ‘high[] threshold’ of callous disregard.”
Boulee’s decision comes more than two months after FBI agents executed a search warrant at a Fulton County elections office, seeking to take “all physical ballots” from 2020, as well as tapes from vote-tabulating machines, ballot images and voter rolls. Home to Atlanta, deep-blue Fulton County was crucial to former President Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 win in Georgia, and Mr. Trump and his allies have long alleged — without evidence — that the county was awash with fraud.
In a 68-page ruling, Boulee acknowledged that “the seizure in this case was certainly not perfect,” and said “the events leading up to this case are, in a variety of ways, unprecedented.” But he wrote that he needs to apply the legal precedents around court-ordered seizures evenly.
The judge rejected Fulton County’s argument that the FBI’s seizure of the ballots was a violation of the county’s 10th Amendment rights to administer elections. He also rejected an argument that the warrant was obtained “in bad faith” after the Justice Department faced pushback in a separate civil legal proceeding surrounding the documents.
“Petitioners have not shown that their rights were callously disregarded either through supposed defects in the warrant or through the manner in which the warrant was executed,” Boulee wrote. He added that the county’s evidence of irreparable harm if the election materials are not returned was “unpersuasive.”
Attorneys for Fulton County and spokespeople for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fulton County filed a lawsuit earlier this year asking for the seized materials to be returned and for an order instructing the government “to maintain, but not review, any copies of the seized materials until this matter is resolved.” It argued the search “callously disregards multiple Fourth Amendment rights” of the county and was a “gross intrusion” into the state’s role in elections.
According to a controversial FBI affidavit at the center of the search, the bureau is investigating potential violations of two federal laws.
One of those laws makes it a crime for elections officials to intimidate voters and to deprive them of a fair election by submitting fraudulent ballots or voter registration applications. The other law requires election officials to retain federal election records for 22 months.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney representing the county, argued that the statute of limitations on both potential violations expired. Boulee, however, rejected that argument.
While the election was more than five years ago, Boulee wrote, “the Court cannot ignore” witness testimony included in the affidavit that alleges ballot images in the county’s possession may have been modified as recently as 2024.
At a contentious hearing in March, Lowell argued “there’s nothing” in an FBI affidavit backing the search warrant “to support that there’s an ongoing investigation that matters” in Fulton County. He did warn, however, that the ballots may be used “for some future crime that may not exist.”
Lowell argued that “a number of things were omitted” from the affidavit at the heart of the search regarding the election and alleged misconduct by the county. A witness for Fulton County, elections expert Ryan Macias, testified that “information in the affidavit does not make sense.”
Macias said there was “incoherent terminology” in the affidavit, and testified the agent and FBI “conflate certain things.” He told the court that the election “has already been looked at and investigated,” and the affidavit had just recycled debunked rumors from over six years ago.
During the hearing, Boulee said of the Justice Department’s defense of the seizure of more than 630 boxes of election material, “that piece bothers me” a “rather considerable” amount.
“How far does that affidavit have to go?” Boulee asked Justice Department attorney Tysen Duva, who led arguments for the federal government.
Duva dismissed Lowell’s arguments as “woefully inadequate” and responded to Boulee’s questioning about flaws in the affidavit by saying, “this isn’t grading a paper.”
“Are there places in the affidavit where the agent could have done better? Sure,” Duva said, adding he “may have missed a thing or two.”
Duva also conceded the FBI’s seizure of the ballots may not lead to any charges.
“If there is an indictment, that remains to be seen,” he said. “What may happen later? Maybe nothing.”
State officials in Georgia, including the Republican governor and secretary of state, have defended the integrity of the 2020 election for years, noting that three separate counts confirmed that Biden defeated Mr. Trump in the state. The results in Georgia were at the center of Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, and Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, is a key Democratic stronghold.
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, Olsen was an attorney who worked with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to urge the Supreme Court to overturn the election results.
The Justice Department revealed more details about the origins of its criminal investigation in a May 1 court filing, after Boulee partially granted a motion by Fulton County officials to compel further information from the Justice Department.
The government told the court that Olsen formally referred the investigation to the FBI “no later than” Jan. 5, the FBI opened an “assessment” the next day and an FBI official in Atlanta approved a full investigation about a week later. An investigative summary was converted into a search warrant affidavit beginning on Jan. 22.
Lowell said at the March hearing that one of the witnesses cited by the government in the affidavit has a criminal record. He also brought up two incidents of court sanctions against Olsen and argued about half of the witnesses would be categorized as “election deniers.”
In 2022, Olsen was subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 Committee, which was investigating the aftermath of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The subpoena alleged that Olsen “contacted various high-level officials at the Department of Justice” at the president’s direction to discuss filing challenges to the election results. The committee said Olsen had multiple phone calls with Mr. Trump on Jan. 6, 2021.
Separately, earlier this month Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections officials asked a federal judge in Georgia to quash a grand jury subpoena from the Justice Department that seeks information on thousands of people who helped run the 2020 election in the county.
The subpoena, issued in April, was issued by federal prosecutors in the Middle District of North Carolina. It seeks personal information — including names, addresses and phone numbers — for election workers and volunteers who worked the 2020 election in the county, with jobs ranging from people who drove the voting units to election volunteers and ballot reviewers.