A federal judge has blocked Fulton County, Georgia, from compelling an FBI agent to testify in a dispute over the bureau’s seizure of 2020 election records. U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, a Trump appointee, ruled that the Justice Department was justified in preventing FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans from testifying at a scheduled hearing. The county had sought to question Evans about his affidavit, which supported the FBI’s search warrant for election materials, arguing it contained inaccuracies that undermined probable cause.
Boulee rejected the county’s subpoena, finding the DOJ’s refusal was not arbitrary and aligned with law enforcement privilege protections. The ruling means Evans will not testify at Friday’s hearing, though the broader legal dispute between Fulton County and the federal government will continue. The FBI’s search, which seized over 650 boxes of election-related materials, was part of an investigation into potential deficiencies in the county’s 2020 vote count.
Fulton County has filed a lawsuit seeking the return of the seized ballots, claiming the FBI’s actions were unjustified. The county argued that Evans’ affidavit misstated or omitted key facts, but the judge sided with federal prosecutors, upholding the DOJ’s authority to withhold the agent’s testimony. The case stems from a referral led by attorney Kurt Olsen, who now serves as Trump’s director of election security.