Judge says DOJ can keep 2020 ballots seized by FBI from Fulton County, Ga.

The judge ruled the county hadn’t demonstrated that the federal government acted with “callous disregard” in taking the ballots.

A federal judge Wednesday blocked the return of more than 600 boxes of 2020 general election ballots the FBI seized this year from an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee wrote in a 68-page order that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the rights of county officials were “callously disregarded” — a legal standard in the case. He ruled that the county hadn’t demonstrated a need for the ballots or that it would be irreparably harmed without them.

At the same time, Boulee criticized how the FBI obtained the ballots in a state President Donald Trump has falsely claimed he won in 2020.