A federal judge in Atlanta ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Justice cannot obtain the names and personal contact information of every person who worked during the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County. The ruling quashes a grand jury subpoena that the DOJ served in April, which sought the names and personal contact information of county employees and volunteer poll workers.
Background of the Subpoena
The subpoena was issued amid ongoing claims by President Donald Trump, who has long asserted without evidence that widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s most populous county, a Democratic stronghold, cost him victory in the state in 2020. Fulton County asked the court to quash the subpoena, arguing it was meant to “target, harass and punish the President’s perceived political opponents” and that it was “grossly over broad and untethered to any reasonable need.”
U.S. District Judge William Ray, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, agreed with the county. “Given the low need for the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the disclosure of the same, the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed,” Ray wrote, calling the scope of the request “staggering.”
County's Response
Fulton County Attorney Soo Jo praised the ruling. “We are proud of our efforts to push back against these improper demands that only serve to undermine confidence in our elections,” Jo said in a statement.
An email seeking comment was sent to the Justice Department but was not immediately returned.
Legal Reasoning
While grand juries often work with federal prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes, “that does not give the DOJ the right to use the Grand Jury to do whatever the DOJ wants,” Ray wrote. He noted that even if the records sought could help find people who support the theory that the election was unfair, the information couldn’t be used to charge anyone because the statute of limitations has passed.
The subpoena followed an FBI search warrant served in January at the Fulton County election hub, where agents seized hundreds of boxes of ballots and other documents from the 2020 election. A federal judge in May denied the county’s request to force the return of those ballots.
The Justice Department argued in a court filing that the subpoena was the “next step in the normal investigative process” and sought “records identifying persons with relevant knowledge.” However, Kamal Ghali, a lawyer for the county, argued during a May hearing that the subpoena “will chill participation by election workers” and that the statute of limitations for any alleged misconduct had already lapsed.
Justice Department lawyer William McComb countered that the statute of limitations issue is not relevant at the investigative stage. “My point is, as we sit here now, we are not sure what charges can be brought. That’s the whole point of the investigation,” he said. The FBI is also using some 260 staffers across the country to help examine records in the Fulton County investigation, according to an agency memo.
Broader Implications
The judge expressed concern about the potential misuse of grand jury power. “In these hyper-political times in which we currently live, there are sure to be some who disagree with this decision because they believe the allegations of fraud in the 2020 Election and believe that ‘light’ should be brought to those claims,” Ray wrote. He added that nothing prevents continued investigation into those allegations by Congress or even the Justice Department, but the grand jury’s power “which exists to investigate potential crimes and to bring viable indictments” cannot be used for that purpose. Otherwise, anyone in power could use the grand jury process to subpoena personal information of citizens “with no legitimate law enforcement purpose.”
“Thus, everyone, whether you support the President or you do not, or whether you believe the 2020 Election was fair or believe that it was not, should be concerned about the DOJ’s ability to utilize the power of the Grand Jury to appropriate your private information without a legitimate purpose,” Ray wrote.
The judge also agreed that providing the subpoenaed information could make it harder for Fulton County to recruit election workers. Those who help run elections “should be valued and are necessary for successful elections in Fulton County going forward,” he wrote.
