The Justice Department is seeking the names and contact information of election workers in Fulton County, Georgia, who worked in the 2020 presidential election, according to legal documents.
The Department of Justice filed a subpoena in April to try to force the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections to release the names, addresses and contact information of 2020 election workers and volunteers. The grand jury subpoena was made public Monday as the Fulton County Board of Registrars urged a judge to cancel it. The New York Times was first to report on the subpoena.
NBC News has contacted the Justice Department for comment.
The subpoena marks an increased effort by the Justice Department to investigate the 2020 election, which remains a focus of President Donald Trump since his defeat.
Reached for comment, Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts said “the federal government is once again trying to abuse the criminal process.”
“This is yet another outrageous federal act aimed at intimidating and suppressing participation in elections,” Pitts said in a statement. “This harassment should not be allowed, which is why we asked the Court to take action. I will always defend our election workers and the truth.”
In Monday’s motion to quash the grand jury subpoena, the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections said the subpoena followed the Justice Department’s “latest effort to target and harass the president’s perceived political enemies — this time the Fulton County election officials, poll workers and volunteers whom Donald Trump continues to denigrate as he perpetuates his false claim that they “stole » the 2020 elections. »
The board’s motion called the grand jury subpoena “unprecedented and harassing,” saying it would impact thousands of election workers and volunteers. The filing also lays out a host of reasons why the commission wanted the judge to dismiss the subpoena.
“Its goal is to target, harass and punish the president’s perceived political opponents; elections,” the filing states.
Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed that he won the 2020 presidential election, including in Georgia, which was won by Joe Biden. Following these elections, Trump pleaded with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during a phone call to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn Biden’s victory.
Fulton County was also the center of Georgia election interference case against Trump and his co-defendants. He has denied any wrongdoing; the case was dropped after the district attorney Fani Willis was disqualified on allegations of conflicts of interest and prosecutor who took over the investigation threw out the accusations.
Earlier this year, the FBI executed search warrant at a Fulton County election center, drawing criticism from Democrats. THE county sued the Justice Department in February, challenging the legality of the search warrant and demanding the return of documents seized by the federal government.