News organizations sue to unseal filings in DOJ's Fulton County election investigation
Source: NBC News
May 18, 2026, 7:02 PM EDT
A group of news organizations, including NBC News, has filed a motion to unseal filings and subpoenas in the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia.
In January, the FBI seized ballots and other materials from the 2020 election from an elections hub in Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold in the key battleground state that President Donald Trump lost in 2020. Last month, the DOJ also sought to compel the county to hand over the names, home addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of workers and volunteers who served during that election.
County officials have so far refused, calling it an effort to “target, harass, and punish the President’s perceived political opponents” in a filing to quash the subpoena. They also note that the statute of limitations for any election crimes in 2020 has run out. Fulton County’s response justifies unsealing the filings, the news organizations argued.
“The grand jury witness — Fulton County — has disclosed the existence of the Subpoena, publicized the fact that it moved to quash the Subpoena, and even filed the Motion to Quash on the public docket. Thus, any grand jury secrecy has been lost, and the subsequent sealing of the Motion to Quash, the Subpoena, and the docket is not necessary or appropriate,” an attorney for the media groups wrote in a motion.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/news-organizations-sue-unseal-filings-doj-fulton-county-election-probe-rcna345700