By Jill Nolin | Editor
A Trump-appointed judge slammed the door on the DOJ’s push to get the personal information of Fulton County election workers in a strongly worded order released Tuesday.
Judge William M. Ray concluded that the statute of limitations to bring potential criminal charges had passed, but he expressed other qualms too, like the impact of the probe on the county’s ability to recruit and retain the poll workers needed to run elections.
“Those who work to run elections (particularly those who volunteered their time during the COVID-19 pandemic) should be valued and are necessary for successful elections in Fulton County going forward,” Ray wrote. “Allowing the DOJ to obtain by subpoena the Fulton County volunteers and workers’ personal information, given its inability to prosecute anyone due to the time lapse, would be unreasonable and place a heavy burden on Fulton County that cannot be ignored.”
The ruling, issued Tuesday by Trump-appointed Judge William M. Ray, ends a monthslong effort from the Department of Justice to obtain the private information of nearly 3,000 election workers and volunteers in Fulton County during the 2020 election. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder
ELECTIONS
By Maya Homan
A federal judge has quashed a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice seeking personal information from the nearly 3,000 Georgians who served as Fulton County election workers and volunteers during the 2020 presidential election, dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s escalating effort to uncover alleged voter fraud in Georgia.
The ruling, issued Tuesday by Trump-appointed Judge William M. Ray, ends a monthslong effort from the Department of Justice to obtain the names, positions, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of election workers in Georgia’s most populous county. Lawyers for the Justice Department argued the records were needed to investigate possible election law violations.
But in a 28-page opinion, the judge pointed out that the statute of limitations for any election-related crimes committed in 2020 has expired and cautioned against allowing sensitive information to be divulged without a “legitimate law enforcement purpose.”
The QTS data center complex under development in Fayetteville, Georgia, US, on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ENERGY
By Alander Rocha
The Georgia Public Service Commission approved an investigation into whether Georgia Power’s industrial customers who are heavy energy consumers, like data centers, are shifting some costs to residential customers.
The investigation was part of an agreement the utility company and PSC staff reached in May that slightly lowered the amount of the utility’s fuel and Hurricane Helene cleanup costs could be passed on to residential customers.
Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, said he told U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine he should “step aside.” In this photo, Sanders, right, rallies with Platner in Portland on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
2026 ELECTION
By Jacob Fischler
A host of high-profile Democrats called for Graham Platner, the party’s nominee to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in November’s election, to drop out of the race as they tried to save the party’s chances to retake the Senate majority.
Among them are U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is in a tough reelection battle, and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
At the governor’s meeting in Atlanta, the listed OpenAI attendees included senior leaders in site readiness and development, economic development and power projects. Getty Images
DATA CENTERS
By Maggie Lee, The Current
In May, as Georgians rallied at the polls and community meetings against power- and water-guzzling data centers, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp met with representatives of OpenAI about the AI industry-leading company’s business plans for the state.
While the meeting became public as part of Kemp’s schedule, neither the governor’s office, nor OpenAI or Georgia Power, whose representatives were also present, would elaborate on the topics discussed.
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ICYMI FROM THE RECORDER
Guest commentary: Georgia can do more to protect health coverage for its youngest residents | Dr. Keisha Reneé Callins
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