WATCH: Bodycam Footage Captures Federal Agents Threatening Fulton County Officials During Raid
Bodycam footage obtained by the Atlanta Constitution-Journal on Tuesday captured the moment FBI agents told Fulton County cops the agency was seizing ballots from the 2020 presidential election — and was “willing to take the records by force” if necessary, the paper reported.
“One way or another, the records are coming with us today,” one agent said.
That was after Fulton’s Clerk of Courts Che Alexander told agents their search warrant was unclear about what the FBI could take. The agent on camera said it would be best if she could “facilitate” their release so that the FBI did not have to “breach” security gates with cutting tools.
Those records did end up leaving with the agents, with 650 boxes of ballots being taken away on January 28.
The FBI agents made it clear they did not want county election officials observing them during the operation, the paper reported. Agents were also “adamant” that media members did not watch them as well.
AJC reported:
The videos… show that in the first hours after agents arrived, county officials were largely compliant, even as they expressed concerns about the search warrant the FBI had come to execute.
“We’ll fight all that later,” county attorney Soo Jo told an officer who raised questions about the FBI’s search warrant and repeatedly told others that the situation was “screwed up.”
“Right now, we are complying. Let them do their thing,” Jo said.
The county officials appeared fairly bewildered by the whole scene, and Alexander complained to other officials that the “FBI’s tone had initially struck her as rude.”
“They said they’ll break the lock and take ‘em,” Alexander said.
The raid last week was part of an investigation into 2020 election fraud. President Donald Trump has routinely claimed that the election — which he lost to Joe Biden — was “rigged.” Those claims have been widely and repeatedly debunked, including by Georgia’s Republican governor and secretary of state.
In another moment caught on camera, Fulton elections director Nadine Williams told one officer that the feds “think we destroyed the ballots, but we didn’t.”
“If you want to take 700 boxes of ballots, have at it,” she said. “So they can go make paper airplanes for all I care.”
MS NOW featured some of the footage in a segment on Chris Jansing Reports. Watch above.
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