Fulton County challenges DOJ subpoena targeting 2020 election workers
The Department of Justice last month demanded the names and contact information for every election worker in Fulton County, Georgia, involved in the 2020 election, according to court filings disclosed this week.
The Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections is now asking a federal court in Atlanta to quash the grand jury subpoena from federal agents, which requested the names, addresses, phone numbers and emails for any staff member who worked the 2020 election.
"Its purpose is to target, harass, and punish the President's perceived political opponents; it is grossly overbroad and untethered to any reasonable need; it cannot yield any evidence that could result in a criminal prosecution," lawyers for the Fulton County officials said in the motion filed Monday with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The subpoena appears to escalate the Trump administration’s pressure on Fulton County amid an ongoing federal investigation into purported irregulates in the 2020 election.
Driven in part by Trump allies who unsuccessfully sought to use debunked theories to overturn the election, federal agents in January seized all the ballots and records from the 2020 election.
For months, Fulton County officials have urged a federal judge to order the records be returned, though that judge has not yet issued a ruling.
DOJ attorneys have insisted that the search was based on evidence of potential misconduct and accused Fulton County officials of speculating about "some kind of grand conspiracy."
In the motion filed on Monday, lawyers for Fulton County called the recent subpoena the "latest effort to target and harass the President's perceived political enemies." They argue that the statute of limitations for any alleged crime has run out and that the investigation lacks a legitimate basis.
"Grand juries do not exist to conduct roving inquiries untethered to a prosecutable criminal case," the motion said.
Robb Pitts, the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, described the subpoena as an "outrageous federal overreach designed to intimidate and to chill participation in elections" in a statement.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
