ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� The U.S. Department of Justice cannot have the names and personal contact information for every person who worked during in Georgia鈥檚 Fulton County, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
The Justice Department in April obtained a seeking the names and personal contact information of county employees and volunteer poll workers. President Donald Trump has long that widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s most populous county, a Democratic stronghold, cost him victory in the state in 2020.
Fulton County asked a judge to quash the subpoena, arguing it was meant to 鈥渢arget, harass and punish the President鈥檚 perceived political opponents鈥� and that it was 鈥済rossly over broad and untethered to any reasonable need.鈥�
鈥淕iven 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,鈥� U.S. District Judge William Ray wrote in his ruling.
The subpoena came after the FBI in January served a search warrant at the Fulton County election hub and and other documents from the 2020 election. A federal judge in May to force the federal government to return the ballots.
The Justice Department argued in a court filing that the subpoena was the 鈥渘ext step in the normal investigative process鈥� and that it seeks 鈥渞ecords identifying persons with relevant knowledge.鈥�
Kamal Ghali, a lawyer for the county, argued that the subpoena 鈥渨ill chill participation by election workers鈥� and that the statute of limitations for any of the alleged misconduct had already lapsed.
Justice Department lawyer William McComb said the statute of limitations issue is not relevant at the investigative stage. The point of the investigation is to figure out what charges can be brought, he said.
鈥淢y point is, as we sit here now, we are not sure what charges can be brought. That’s the whole point of the investigation,鈥� he said.
The request for election workers’ contact information, McComb said, 鈥渨ould 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.鈥�
During a hearing in May, the judge said he was going to focus on whether the federal government鈥檚 request for the election worker contact information was reasonable.
鈥淵ou know, an overly broad fishing expedition is bad and is not allowed,鈥� Ray said. 鈥淏ut one that鈥檚 not overly broad is kind of okay. And the question is, how do we 鈥� how does 鈥� how do I as a judge decide when does it go too far?鈥�
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