ATLANTA — The FBI obtained a search warrant to seize hundreds of boxes of ballots from election offices in Fulton County, Ga., as part of a criminal investigation into alleged “deficiencies or defects” in the vote count in the 2020 contest lost by President Trump, according to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday.

The affidavit provides the first public justification for an FBI search last month that targeted a county that Trump and allies have long seen as central to their false claim that the 2020 election was stolen. The investigation, based on a referral from a Trump administration official, rests on claims that have long been made by people who assert widespread fraud in the contest even though audits, state officials, courts and Trump’s own former attorney general have all rejected the idea of widespread problems that could have altered the outcome.

The investigation began with a referral from Kurt Olsen, who served as Trump’s 2020 campaign lawyer when it lost dozens of lawsuits challenging the election and now serves as an administration official overseeing the attempt to investigate Trump’s loss, according to the affidavit.

The search of the heavily Democratic county stirred immediate concerns among Democrats that Trump was marshaling the powers of the FBI and Justice Department to pursue retribution over his persistent claims of a stolen election and because of the unusual presence of Tulsi Gabbard, the country’s director of national intelligence. The affidavit makes no mention of any evidence of foreign interference in the 2020 election even though the possibility of such meddling has been a long-standing conspiracy theory among Trump supporters who question the 2020 vote count.

Democrat Joe Biden won Georgia by about 11,800 votes in an election overseen by a Republican secretary of state and certified by a Republican governor.

Among the “deficiencies or defects” investigators are looking at is Fulton County’s admission that it does not have scanned images of all the ballots counted during the original count or the recount, according to the affidavit. Fulton County has also confirmed that some ballots were scanned multiple times during the recount, the affidavit says.

“If these deficiencies were the result of intentional action, it would be a violation of federal law regardless of whether the failure to retain records or the deprivation of a fair tabulation of a vote was outcome determinative for any particular election or race,” the document says.

The affidavit says seizures of the election records was necessary to determine whether election records were destroyed and or the tabulation of votes included materially false votes.” It cites potential violations of a law regarding the preservation and retention of election records, a misdemeanor. It also cites a law that makes it a crime to “knowingly and willfully” deprive residents of a “fair and impartially conducted election process,” which is a felony.

But the document also expresses uncertainty about whether the potential defects constitute a crime, noting that elections in Fulton County have already been the subject of multiple reviews.

After a particularly disastrous primary election in 2020, an independent monitor was hired to observe the general election that year as part of an agreement between the county and the State Election Board. He documented “sloppy processes” and “systemic disorganization” but found no evidence of illegality or fraud.

State lawmakers in 2021 used a provision of a new law to initiate a performance review of the county’s election practices. That review found that the county’s elections had been characterized by “disorganization and a lack of a sense of urgency in resolving issues.” But it also found the county had shown marked improvement.

An investigation by the secretary of state’s office and a performance review by the state elections board, which came at the urging of the Republican-controlled Legislature, came to similar conclusions.

According to the affidavit, the review board stated, “we do not see any evidence of fraud, intentional misconduct, or large systematic issues that would have affected the result of the November 2020 election.”

Agents armed with a warrant spent hours on Jan. 28 at the country elections hub, just sought of Atlanta, before driving off with trucks loaded with hundreds of cartons of election materials.

A week after the seizure, Fulton County officials filed a motion seeking the return of the materials that had been taken and the unsealing of the sworn statement presented to the judge who signed off on the search. The warrant sought the seizure of the following documents related to the 2020 election in the county: all ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners that tally the votes, electronic ballot images created when the ballots were counted and then recounted, and all voter rolls.

“Claims that the 2020 election results were fraudulent or otherwise invalid have been exhaustively reviewed and, without exception, refuted,” the county argued in a court filing, noting that numerous lawsuits, as well as state and federal investigations, had found no evidence of fraud.

Brumback, Tucker and Durkin Richer write for the Associated Press. AP writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

Georgia cuisine is all about comfort food from BBQ and fried chicken to pies and mashed potatoes. But what’s the best? Food Network claimed one as the best in the February/March issue of its magazine in a list of the top in each state.

What is the best comfort food in Georgia?

Representing Georgia as the ‘coziest dish’ is classic cornbread. Food Network highlighted that it was made the official state bread last year and that it’s a nod to the area’s Cherokee roots.

What are Georgia’s official state foods?

The same legislation that made cornbread an official food of Georgia did the same for Brunswick stew. Some similar symbols include grits as Georgia’s official prepared food, peaches as the official state fruit, and largemouth mass as the official state fish.

Cornbread recipe

Food Network’s recipe is to whisk 1 cup of yellow cornmeal and flour, one-fourth cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1.5 teaspoons of kosher salt, and half a teaspoon of baking soda in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk 2 eggs, 1 cup of buttermilk, one-fourth cup of whole mil, and 7 tablespoons of melted butter until smooth.

Whisk the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture and pour the batter into a buttered 9-inch ovenproof skillet; smooth the top. Bake at 375 degrees until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean; about 25-30 minutes.

Who plays Cornbread from Sinners?

There’s another reason cornbread is having a big year: It’s the name of one of 2025’s biggest and best movies of the year, “Sinners.” Cornbread is played by Omar Benson Miller and (SPOILER ALERT) is one of the first to be turned into a vampire.

Miller won a Gotham Award for his role in the film. If you didn’t see “Sinners,” you may know him as Charles Greene in HBO’s “Ballers” and Sol Georgie in “8 Mile.”

Miguel Legoas is a Deep South Connect Team Reporter for USA Today. Find him on Instagram @miguelegoas and email at mlegoas@gannett.com.

Authorities in Georgia asked for the public’s assistance on Monday, Feb. 9, after two inmates facing violent crime charges escaped from jail over the weekend.

Two inmates escaped custody from the Sumter County Jail at around 9:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, Feb. 8, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The Sumter County Jail is located in Americus, Georgia, a small city about 139 miles south of Atlanta.

The inmates, identified as Ricky Martin, 20, and Kentravious Holmes, 21, were being held on multiple charges, including murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery, according to the sheriff’s office. The escape prompted a widespread search involving multiple law enforcement agencies, and authorities released a be on the lookout, or BOLO, alert for the inmates on the morning of Monday, Feb. 9.

Authorities did not immediately release details on how the inmates escaped, but Sheriff Eric Bryant told local television station WALB that investigators were “still following up on different things that we’re finding inside the building.”

The sheriff added that it appears that there was “some type of mechanical failure with the locking system” at the facility, according to WALB.

During a news conference on Monday, Feb. 9, Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said the inmates were spotted in a stolen vehicle by license plate cameras, WALB reported. One of the inmates has family and other potential contacts in Albany, Georgia, a city about 38 miles south of Americus, Persley said.

It was unclear if escaped inmates were still in the area. Authorities have asked anyone with information on the inmates and their whereabouts to call 911 or contact the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and the Albany Police Department did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment on Monday, Feb. 9.

Getting away with murder: These fugitives fled prisons – and were never caught

Escaped inmates were arrested in connection with separate shootings

The sheriff’s office described Martin as 5 feet, 4 inches in height and weighing about 120 pounds, with “un-twisted dreads.” 

Holmes was described as about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing about 155 pounds, “with un-twisted dreads, and multiple tattoos on his face and neck, including a ‘$’ sign, a broken heart, and ‘Baby Kay’ over his right eye,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Martin was booked into the Sumter County Jail in February 2025 after he was arrested and charged with murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He was arrested in connection with a shooting in Americus that left two dead and another injured.

At the time, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said local police responded to a shooting on Feb. 8, 2025, and discovered multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Peyton Brielle Roberts, 5, died after being transported to the hospital, while a 19-year-old, later identified as Jotavis Roshon Leverette, died from his injuries at a hospital.

Holmes was arrested in May 2025 and transported to the Sumter County Jail, according to the Americus Police Department. He was accused of fatally shooting 21-year-old Amon Kevone Harvey in April 2025, WALB reported at the time.

New Orleans jailbreak: After nearly five months, how 10 jail escapees from New Orleans are back behind bars

Recent jailbreaks across the United States

The escape in Georgia comes after three inmates fled from a county jail east of Atlanta in December. The three inmates, including one charged with murder, were captured about a day after their escape.

Earlier that month, another Georgia inmate escaped from custody at a hospital and used ride-hailing services, including an Uber ride, to evade sheriff’s deputies. The inmate, identified as Timothy Shane, 52, was captured after about three days in Covington, Georgia, a small city outside Atlanta, authorities said.

On Dec. 19, authorities arrested the last of three inmates who escaped from a Louisiana jail in early December by removing mortar and concrete blocks from a degraded part of a wall.

In June 2025, a former Arkansas police chief, convicted murderer and rapist Grant Hardin, was recaptured after a 12-day manhunt. Hardin had escaped from prison disguised as a guard and made it only a mile from the facility before he was found.

Earlier in the year, 10 inmates brazenly escaped from a New Orleans jail. Authorities said the inmates fled through a hole in a cell wall after ripping away a toilet and sink unit on the morning of May 16, 2025.

Most of the escapees were caught in the weeks after, and since then, multiple people have been charged with helping the inmates escape or stay on the run. The final inmate was recaptured Oct. 8 in Atlanta, nearly five months after the escape.