Trump administration to face questions about seizure of Fulton County 2020 election records
Ballots are counted on election night at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operation Center on November 5, 2024 in Fairburn, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Lawyers for the Trump administration will face serious questions for the first time on Friday about the search and seizure of more than 650 boxes of 2020 election records from a Fulton County, Georgia, election site.
Fulton County officials have argued the FBI “intentionally or recklessly omitted material facts” about purported discrepancies in the 2020 election in Georgia to secure a warrant for the materials, and a federal judge is considering a request to force the Trump administration to return the sensitive records.
“Despite years of investigations of the 2020 election, the [search warrant] affidavit does not identify facts that establish probable cause that anyone committed a crime,” lawyers for the Fulton County officials wrote in court filing. “The Affiant failed to include facts — including from the very sources he cited — that shut the door on even the faintest possibility of probable cause.”
U.S. District Judge JP Boulee, a Trump appointee, scheduled a six-hour evidentiary hearing for Friday to determine whether the Trump administration showed “callous disregard” for constitutional rights by executing the controversial search earlier this year.
After election officials raised concerns about the basis for the January 2026 search, Judge Boulee last month ordered the Department of Justice to publicly release the application for the warrant, which revealed that the investigation was triggered by an attorney and close ally of President Trump who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
According to the unsealed court records, the investigation centers on long-debunked allegations of voter fraud that have already been thoroughly investigated.
Fulton County election officials have since pushed for the return of the records, arguing that the investigation focuses on “human errors that its own sources confirm occur in almost every election … without any intentional wrongdoing whatsoever.”
“The Affidavit omits numerous material facts — including from the very reports and publicly-disclosed investigations that the Affiant cites — that confirm the alleged conduct was previously investigated and found to be unintentional,” attorneys for the Fulton County officials argued.
Lawyers for the Trump administration have pushed back on the request, highlighting that the search was approved by a magistrate judge and arguing that the lawsuit was a “way to get a sneak peek at ongoing criminal investigations.”
“Petitioners’ attempt to turn a semantic dispute into a deliberate falsehood (with no citation to any offer of proof on this issue) is beyond the pale. And given the other evidence, probable cause would easily exist without the County’s admissions,” DOJ lawyers argued in court filings.
In a late setback ahead of Friday’s hearing, Judge Boulee quashed an attempt to force the FBI agent behind the search warrant to testify, concluding that questioning the agent could reveal “process and scope of the DOJ’s investigation,” which remains ongoing.
President Trump has long criticized the outcome of the 2020 election results in Georgia, personally pushing to overturn the results after his loss and later being indicted in two criminal cases over his actions. Those cases have since been dismissed, and Trump has continued to push for criminal accountability for what he baselessly alleged was a stolen election.
Through a call with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — who was present at the January raid — President Trump personally addressed some of the agents who conducted the search and told them they were doing great work by investigating Georgia’s elections, ABC News previously reported.
“I was at Fulton County, sir, at the request of the president and to work with the FBI to observe this action that had long been awaited,” Gabbard told lawmakers earlier this month when asked about her presence at the search. “It is my role based on statute that Congress has passed to have oversight over election security to include counterintelligence.”
A man on cross-country skis travels through Central Park after a historic blizzard hit parts of the East Coast, on February 24, 2026 in New York City. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Snow is moving through the Northeast Wednesday morning, though much of the snow is light with heavier bands of precipitation further inland and higher elevations.
In New York City, snow is expected to last a few hours before ending in the late morning with less than an inch of snow accumulation anticipated.
In Boston, snow should end by midday with less than an inch of snow expected and, in Portland, Maine, snow totals could be up to 2 to 3 inches.
There is a chance for lingering snow showers scattered across New England through the evening but without much additional accumulation expected.
Meanwhile, temperatures the rest of the week will likely reach above freezing each day from New York City to Boston, meaning there should be some daily melting and then an overnight re-freeze that could create black ice in areas.
The chance for heavy snow across the Northeast is dwindling as the storm looks to stay farther south and temperatures too warm for snow, meaning it is much more likely this will be a rain event for the South with little to no snow for areas north of there.
While there may be thunderstorms accompanying some of the rain, no flood or severe weather threat is anticipated.
Elsewhere, on Saturday there is a chance for snow from Bismarck, North Dakota, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and through southern Michigan that should move quickly and dump a couple of inches of snow in these regions.
Some of that snow may linger into the Northeast on Sunday but, overall, it is looking weaker and light with about an inch or less expected for those experiencing the snow.
On Sunday and Monday nights, there is a chance for snow over parts of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic but it is currently too soon to know how this storm will develop with another round of rain and snow possible on Tuesday for the East and Northeast.
Law enforcement respond near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter on March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Police continue to investigate as emergency personnel remained on the scene. (Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images)
(WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich.) — Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said that 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali — the suspect involved in the shooting and vehicle-ramming attack at a Detroit-area synagogue on Thursday — had “lost several members of his own family … in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon.”
Strongly condemning the attack, Baydoun said “everyone deserves to worship in peace and we must unequivocally condemn any attack on a house of worship or the people within it.”
“We learned that the individual responsible for the incident that took place at Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield was a resident of Dearborn Heights,” Baydoun continued. “He died at the scene. Earlier this month, he lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon.”
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin also vehemently condemned the attack, saying she is “so sick” of these incidents happening both within her community and across the country.
“Everyone deserves the right to worship in peace. Everyone. An act of antisemitism, an act of violence, of hate, should be treated to the fullest extent of the law,” Slotkin told ABC News on Thursday. “And I’m so sick of another one of these incidents all the time in my community, across the country. And I just — I think we need to acknowledge that we have a problem, and I’m just sick about it.”
Ghazali, who was armed with a rifle, died after a shootout with security at the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a senior federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said earlier.
Nobody inside the synagogue was hurt, and the synagogue noted that all 140 students as well as staff, teachers and “heroic security personnel” were accounted for, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
“This tragedy comes at a time when communities everywhere are confronting rising hate and senseless violence. No matter where violence occurs, whether in West Bloomfield or anywhere around in the world, harm against innocent people is something we must all stand firmly against,” Baydoun said. “The tensions we see across the world too often find their way into our own neighborhoods, reminding us how deeply connected our shared safety is.”
The sheriff said one synagogue security guard was hit by the suspect’s truck in the incident and was “knocked unconscious” but was expected to be okay.
There were no other injuries in the attack, though 30 law enforcement officers were transported to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, according to Bouchard.
“I want our community to know that we are working closely with our police department and regional partners to protect the safety of every house of worship in our city,” said Baydoun. “I urge residents to stay aware and vigilant, especially as we gather during these sacred final days of Ramadan. Let’s continue to care for one another and pay attention to anything that feels out of place … “My heart is with everyone affected by these deeply painful events.”
TikTok logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen for illustration photo. Krakow, Poland. On April, 20th, 2026. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Trump administration is nearing an agreement with TikTok to resolve an ongoing lawsuit over alleged child privacy violations in exchange for the social media company paying $400 million that the administration plans to use to fund President Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., “beautification” projects, sources familiar with the discussions told ABC News.
The proposed settlement would end a 2024 lawsuit brought during the Biden administration that alleged that the then-Chinese-owned social media company engaged in “massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy” by collecting extensive data from children without notifying or obtaining consent from parents.
While sources say the administration and TikTok are finalizing the terms of the settlement, it must still be approved by a vote of the TikTok board, which is expected to take place as soon as Friday.
As part of the proposed settlement terms, which are not expected to include an admission of wrongdoing, TikTok would agree to pay the U.S. government $400 million, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News — money the administration intends to use for some of the ongoing “beautification” projects in the nation’s capital, the sources said.
While the proposed settlement is not expected to detail specific projects the money would support, the funds are expected to be directed to either the Department of Interior, the Department of Commerce, or both, sources familiar with the discussions said. Officials in the White House have had weekslong discussions about whether they could legally use the money to pay for Trump’s proposed massive 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, the sources said.
On Thursday evening, President Trump personally traveled down to the National Mall to tout his administration’s “beautification” projects around the nation’s capital, telling reporters his administration is “working on some other jobs” and saying he was most excited about the triumphal arch, which he said would break ground “very soon.”
While the Department of Justice regularly reaches settlements with private companies accused of wrongdoing, the proposed TikTok settlement marks a departure from the practice of using the settlement funds to resolve the alleged wrongdoing or compensate victims.
The Department of Justice alleged that millions of children under the age of 13 were subjected to extensive data collection and excessive content meant for adults, but the proposed settlement funds are set to directly support Trump’s efforts to improve the appearance of the nation’s capital.
The White House referred questions on the matter to the Justice Department, which declined to comment. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
The $400 million agreement would come as the Trump administration attempts to cut funding from the National Park Service while surging more than $10 billion in their proposed 2027 budget to form a “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program.” According to the Trump administration’s proposed budget, the president hopes to “coordinate, plan, and execute targeted, priority construction and beautification projects” throughout the capital to make “Washington, D.C. — a once-great city –safe, clean, and beautiful again.”
Further complicating the matter is President Trump’s direct role in helping to create the business venture that will pay out hundreds of millions for his D.C. projects, raising possible ethical concerns about his personal interest in the use of the settlement funds.
‘I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok!’
Since taking office last year, Trump has fashioned an unprecedented relationship with TikTok after the company was banned from operating unless it was sold to a U.S. owner. When the social media app briefly went dark in January 2025, Trump, on his first day in office, signed an executive order that allowed the company to continue operating in the United States, essentially vowing not to enforce the ban while negotiations over a potential sale continued.
Following months of negotiations, TikTok earlier this year finalized a $14 billion deal creating an American venture — partially owned by Trump ally Larry Ellison’s database software company Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, Emirati investment firm MGX, and others — to address national security concerns stemming from TikTok’s ties to Beijing. TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, still retains a minority stake in the American version of TikTok, which licenses its algorithm from ByteDance.
“I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok! It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be an important Voice,” Trump said in a social media post in January before thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping “for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal.”
‘Massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy’
The 2024 lawsuit that the Biden administration’s Department of Justice brought against TikTok and ByteDance, which followed a referral from the Federal Trade Commission, alleged that the social media company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by allowing children under the age of 13 to create and use TikTok accounts without their parents’ consent, and collected “extensive data from those children.”
“By adhering to these deficient policies, Defendants actively avoid deleting the accounts of users they know to be children,” the complaint alleged. “Instead, Defendants continue collecting these children’s personal information, showing them videos not intended for children, serving them ads and generating revenue from such ads, and allowing adults to directly communicate with them through TikTok.”
TikTok pushed back against the claims, arguing they were “going above and beyond” federal law requirements, while pointing the finger at children for figuring out how to “sign up for TikTok in contravention of the company’s policies.” The complaint appears to have been stalled in pre-trial litigation — with TikTok yet to file a motion to dismiss the case — and the judge overseeing the matter recently set a trial for May 2027.
In the past, the Trump administration has been critical of settlements that do not directly compensate victims of wrongdoing. During Trump’s first term, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions banned settlements that resulted in payments to non-governmental, third parties that were not directly harmed by the conduct. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi reinstated a similar policy in 2025 banning improper third party settlements.
“Settlements, including civil settlement agreements, deferred prosecution agreements, non-prosecution agreements, and plea agreements, are a useful tool for Department attorneys, and should be used, first and foremost, to compensate victims, redress harm, or punish and deter unlawful conduct,” Bondi wrote in a Justice Department memo.
Making Washington ‘safe, clean, and beautiful again’
Over the last year, the Trump administration has prioritized carrying out “beautification” projects such as the extensive renovation of the White House East Wing, the planned arch near Arlington, the resurfacing of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, and other projects to upgrade local infrastructure and parks.
Beyond the $400 million from the TikTok settlement, the Trump administration’s proposed 2027 budget includes $10 billion for a “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program” to create a fund within the National Park Service to improve buildings and parks in and around D.C.
“As the capital of the greatest Nation in the history of the world, Washington, D.C. should showcase beautiful, clean, and safe public spaces. However, many historic park features and public-facing infrastructure throughout the city show signs of decay, years of heavy public use, and inadequate maintenance,” the administration said in its proposed 2027 budget.
While details about the massive $10 billion fund are sparse, the Department of the Interior’s 2027 budget says the money would be used to “rehabilitate historic buildings and landscapes, and enhance architectural grandeur so that Americans can once again be proud of their capital.”
The size of Trump’s D.C. fund would dwarf the operating budget of the National Park Service, which the Trump administration seeks to cut by more than a billion dollars to a total to $2.2 billion. The Trump administration’s 2027 budget also would reduce staffing in the National Park Service — which manages more than 400 sites including 63 national parks — by approximately 3,000 employees.
When pressed about the $10 billion beautification fund, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told lawmakers in April that the money would be used for “deferred maintenance” on existing facilities.
“D.C. is like a state. I mean it’s not like [the fund is only for] the National Mall — it’s for the greater capital region,” Burgum said. “I believe that if we got together, we could come back and go. ‘That number is not high enough.'”
