Protecting the Democratic Process
Pitts v. United States
A bipartisan group of former senior Justice Department officials supported Fulton County’s challenge to the FBI’s seizure of 2020 election ballots.
THE IMPACT
The unprecedented seizure of Fulton County’s 2020 election records violates the rights of voters and the Constitutional principle of federalism. A return of the ballots would safeguard the democratic process and the justice-seeking role of the D.O.J., ahead of upcoming elections.
THE BRIEF
In January 2026, the FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County Elections Office in Georgia, seizing ballots and records related to the 2020 Presidential Election. President Trump has long claimed Fulton County was rife with voter fraud in 2020, despite multiple investigations disproving these claims.
The search warrant submitted by the Department of Justice (D.O.J.) to authorize the seizure sought extraordinarily sensitive information that was already available to the D.O.J., was sworn by an individual who omitted crucial and publicly available information, and contained only loose allegations of hypothetical criminal activity that were beyond the statutes of limitations for the alleged offenses.
Our amicus brief leverages the unique perspective of bipartisan former Justice Department officials to challenge the seizure. In their experience, “it is exceedingly unlikely the Search Warrant would have been approved for submission to a magistrate judge” in any previous Justice Department. The court should order the return of the ballots because the Trump DOJ has “failed in its role to serve as an inter-executive check to protect constitutional rights and liberties,” the senior officials conclude.
THE TEAM
The bipartisan former Justice Department officials are represented pro bono by Free + Fair and Kurt G. Kastorf.
CASE DOCUMENTS
Featured Press
In a brief filed late Wednesday, a bipartisan group of eight former U.S. attorneys argued that “the public record in this case strongly suggests that DOJ has failed to live up to the high standards set by previous administrations” and the search warrant “represents the abdication of DOJ’s role as a protector of constitutional rights and liberties.”
Atlanta Journal Constitution February 26, 2026
