Overview
- The court order quashing the April grand-jury subpoena was issued by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II on Tuesday and blocks DOJ demands for names, home addresses, emails and phone numbers for thousands of 2020 Fulton County election workers.
- Ray called the subpoena's scope "staggering," said the requested personal data posed real privacy and safety risks, and warned broad disclosure would discourage people from serving as poll workers.
- The judge found the government’s need was weak because many possible crimes tied to the 2020 election likely fall outside the typical five-year statute of limitations, reducing the subpoena’s prosecutorial value.
- The subpoena followed an FBI search in January that seized more than 600 boxes of ballots and related records and came while investigators were reviewing those materials; a separate May ruling allowed the government to keep the seized items.
- The Justice Department says it considers the subpoena part of ordinary investigative work and is weighing appeals or other legal steps, which could determine whether the probe proceeds through other means.