Ex-prosecutor points to major flaw in Trump admin's election raid case

A statute of limitations issue could undercut the pressure Fulton County has been put under by Donald Trump's administration, an ex-prosecutor said.

Joyce Vance, a former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, highlighted the glaring issue which can be found in court filings made against the Georgia county. Writing in her Substack, Vance observed a problem the Trump admin had seemingly not taken into account.

She wrote, "At the outset, there appears to be a statute of limitations issue. The government has five years from the time they were committed to prosecute these crimes. The election was in 2020. It’s now 2026.

"Math was never my strong suit, but I don’t see how that can work. There is no explanation of this apparent deficiency in the affidavit. With a marker down for that legal issue, we move on to probable cause."

The odds are stacked against the admin, which must now prove its claims of election fraud in 2020 hold water. Vance explained, "The government has to demonstrate a reasonable basis to believe that a crime was committed and that evidence of the crime will be found at the location to be searched.

"And importantly here, the government can’t get to probable cause by ignoring evidence that cuts the other way.

"The Eleventh Circuit has held that a 'warrant affidavit violates the Fourth Amendment when it contains omissions made intentionally or with a reckless disregard for the accuracy of the affidavit... if inclusion of the omitted facts would have prevented a finding of probable cause,' and that 'Whether the omitted statement was material is determined by examining the affidavit as if the omitted information had been included and inquiring if the affidavit would still have given rise to probable cause for the warrant.'"

Vance does not believe the case will go much further than it has, adding, "On top of everything that was left out of the affidavit, the whole debunked big lie issue, it’s a mighty slender thread to base probable cause on.

"Given the careful review that’s customary for search warrant affidavits, it’s surprising that this made it out of both the FBI office and the US Attorney’s office, and onto a federal judge’s desk."