In late January, I watched in horror as the FBI conducted a raid at a local Georgia elections office — a raid based on debunked conspiracy theories. At a U.S. District Court hearing on the fate of the seized ballots, an expert witness hammered that point home.
In describing the affidavit used to obtain the warrant, former U.S. Election Assistance Commission official Ryan Macias told the court that, “[t]here’s no basis in reality for most of the witness statements. There was missing information and the information that was relied on doesn’t reflect reality.”
To make matters worse, newly released documents show that the judge who approved the warrant identified flaws in the FBI’s affidavit and, instead of rejecting it, suggested revisions before signing it.
The FBI’s raid on Fulton County’s elections offices represents more than just an egregious escalation in the Trump administration’s continued attempts to sow mistrust in America’s elections. It’s also a telling sign of things to come.
Georgia local and state officials have managed elections well
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Fulton County is no stranger to conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. And even though those conspiracy theories have been repeatedly debunked in the courts and in the press, President Donald Trump’s FBI nonetheless used them to obtain a warrant to search Fulton County’s elections offices more than five years after the election took place.
And recently-reported public statements from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Harmeet Dhillon indicate that the DOJ used a criminal search warrant to obtain Fulton County ballots while civil litigation was still underway — a move that may have misused federal authority.
In Georgia, local and state elections officials have repeatedly demonstrated their trustworthiness when administering elections, protecting the chain of custody and ensuring the integrity of the process. President Trump and his allies would like you to believe that the recent raid is part of some federal effort to “protect” America’s elections, but that is simply not true.
The president’s actions and rhetoric make it clear that he is perfectly willing to violate the Constitution, the law, and his oath of office to interfere in America’s elections and influence the outcome.
Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution is clear: the states have the right and responsibility to administer elections with limited oversight from Congress. There is no role for the executive branch. But only weeks after the raid, President Trump called on Republicans to “nationalize” elections — a patently unconstitutional move that would see the federal government attempting to infringe on states’ rights, giving an unprecedented and dangerous amount of power to the executive branch.
President Trump has baselessly fixated on Georgia as a voter fraud “hot bed.” By interfering in the election processes in Georgia, and recently Arizona, the president is not trying to make America’s elections more secure — he’s trying to insert the executive branch into the process. His true intention is to subvert elections so that he can put his finger on the scale and try to influence the outcome.
Peach State should resist a national takeover of elections
The risk is especially high in Georgia. The Republican-controlled State Election Board is facing pressure to dismiss the Fulton County election board and replace it with a “temporary superintendent” with full control over the 2026 elections. There is concern that the board could initiate this process as soon as its next meeting on April 15. This would represent an egregious abuse of power — based on debunked conspiracy theories.
We don’t know who this “temporary superintendent” would be and whether they would follow state law or the president’s whims. But, we do know that some Republican lawmakers have already endorsed the idea.
State Board Chair John Fervier has thus far resisted the pressure. On a recent podcast appearance, he explained, “If there was no reason to do it in 2023, why would you even consider it now?”
I applaud the chairman, but the truth is that he is at odds with the majority of the State Board’s members, who continue to baselessly question the integrity of Fulton County’s elections. In fact, board members Janelle King and Janice W. Johnston were cited as witnesses in the conspiracy theory-filled affidavit used to obtain the warrant for the FBI raid.
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
The Trump administration has shown increasing disregard for free and fair elections, our democracy, or the Constitution. A GOP-fueled takeover of the Fulton County elections board would be an unprecedented attack on Georgia’s state rights — and a harrowing sign of things to come. It must be resisted.
States across the country must continue to stand up for their rights and against Trump’s unconstitutional executive branch interference in elections.
Nick Penniman is the founder and CEO of Issue One, a D.C.-based nonprofit focused on building bipartisan power to strengthen the foundations of American democracy.
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