On Jan. 28, FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Fulton County, Georgia, elections office. This raid follows years of President Trump attempting to manufacture evidence of election fraud related to the 2020 presidential election, and directing false claims of voter fraud against cities with large Black communities. When pressed on the warrant’s justification, federal agents refused to provide further information to county officials or the press.
In response to the FBI raid, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement:
“Notwithstanding overwhelming evidence that the 2020 election was fairly run, this administration has made it clear that they will continue to pursue false narratives about voter fraud — and that the facts will not stop them. Their actions demonstrate utter contempt for the electoral process, the rule of law, and the safeguards that protect public trust in our elections.
“We cannot allow this violation of our democratic norms to continue. This reprehensible targeting of Fulton County and similar localities with high percentages of Black voters must end. LDF firmly denounces this raid and any other attempt to suppress the free and fair elections that form the foundation of our democracy.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF’s archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.
