By Sadie Gurman

A White House official who unsuccessfully pushed claims of voter fraud after Donald Trump's 2020 election loss spurred a criminal investigation that led to the search of the main election office in Fulton County, Ga., an FBI search warrant affidavit unsealed Tuesday shows.

The probe "originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, Presidentially appointed Director Of Election Security and Integrity," according to the affidavit in a Georgia federal court. Olsen served as a lawyer for the Trump campaign during its "Stop the Steal" effort that filed, and lost, dozens of lawsuits challenging the 2020 election results. He recently joined the Trump administration as a special government employee tasked with investigating that year's election and voting-related issues.

The affidavit offers the first public justification for the Jan. 28 search and seizure of hundreds of boxes of documents, and shows the criminal probe is based on long-held claims about election fraud in Georgia. U.S. Magistrate Judge Catherine Salinas signed off on the search based on the allegations outlined in the affidavit.

"This investigation has presently focused on the following deficiencies or defects" with the 2020 election and vote counting, the affidavit said, including duplicate ballots, missing ballot images and issues with election tabulator machines. "If these deficiencies were the result of intentional action, it would be a violation of federal law," regardless of whether it changed the outcome, the affidavit said.

A spokeswoman for the county didn't immediately return requests for comment.

FBI agents were photographed hauling away pallets of documents and other materials during the search last month of a warehouse in Fulton County, which has been a particular target for Trump and others who argue the election was stolen from him.

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence who has spent months investigating the results of the 2020 election, also made an unusual appearance in Fulton County as the search was being conducted. She has pushed Trump's claim that the 2020 election was unfairly taken from him, the Journal reported, particularly on foreign government interference. The affidavit makes no mention of foreign interference in the race.

After the 2020 contest, Trump repeatedly alleged that Fulton County had produced fraudulent results. He urged various officials, including its Republican secretary of state, to help "find" enough votes to overturn his narrow defeat in Georgia.

Georgia election officials conducted two recounts, which confirmed that Biden won the state in 2020. No court or election authority found evidence of widespread fraud in the presidential election.

Officials in the heavily Democratic county, which encompasses Atlanta, have asked a federal court to order the FBI to return the hundreds of ballots and other items that were seized. The search and Trump's calls for a federal takeover of elections, which are run by state law under the U.S. Constitution, stirred concern among Democrats that he may be laying the groundwork to cast doubt on November's midterm elections.

Write to Sadie Gurman at sadie.gurman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2026 17:46 ET (22:46 GMT)

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