U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks on the phone while standing at the edge of a truck loading bay after the FBI executed a search warrant for the Fulton County Election Hub. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage.
The Justice Department seeks to interview poll workers and ballot counters who worked on the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, a district that has been a key focus of President Donald Trump’s disproven claims that the race was stolen. According to CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, the judge involved with the matter seems skeptical of what appears to be a “fishing expedition” rather than an investigation based on evidence.
“Prosecutors have very broad discretion over who they subpoena and who they interview, but it's not quite limitless,” explained Honig, noting that judges typically only get involved to block a subpoena “if there's a finding that the prosecutors are acting in bad faith or just looking to harass somebody.”
According to Honig, this is exactly what Fulton County is arguing.
“They say this is all about sustaining a political agenda,” said Honig, and that the DOJ “engaged in a fishing expedition.” The DOJ has responded by arguing that it does have a basis for its investigation, but according to Honig, “it’s not clear what that is.”
A lawyer for the county has argued that the investigation could chill election workers from future participation, and that providing election workers’ names, addresses, and phone numbers to the Trump administration could prompt it to “target and harass (Trump’s) perceived political enemies.”
The DOJ attempted to assuage such concerns.
“This would simply be a pathway to determine and speak with and interview certain individuals who worked at the polls who may have seen, heard, or done something in and of themselves,” a DOJ prosecutor, William McComb, told the judge.
Honig noted that the DOJ explicitly stated that it isn’t a fishing expedition, but that its prosecutors “are allowed to splash around in the pond a little bit.”
“The judge said something like that as well, so it will be interesting,” said Honig. “I think the judge seemed really torn. He may look for some sort of middle ground here, where maybe he narrows the subpoena a bit.”
According to CNN, “The unusual investigative approach could potentially reinflate fraud theories that have been roundly rejected by several voting and law enforcement authorities about the result of the 2020 election.” Joe Biden won the county, which includes Atlanta, by over two-thirds of its roughly half-million votes. Earlier this year, the FBI seized the county’s 2020 ballots and other election materials, and the DOJ has yet to provide evidence of a crime.
“As we sit here now, we are not sure what charges can be brought,” said McComb amid court discussion of whether or not the DOJ was engaged in a fishing expedition. “That’s the whole point of the investigation.”
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