The Fulton County Raid Is Not About 2020. It’s About What Comes Next.

The Fulton County Raid Is Not About 2020. It’s About What Comes Next.

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #755: Thursday, January 29th, 2026.

There are moments when the truth isn’t hidden…it’s staged.

An FBI search warrant. An elections warehouse. Boxes moving into vehicles. And then the detail that should make every American…left…right…and exhausted…sit up straight:

The Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was there. On scene.

That is not normal.

And no, this isn’t “inside baseball.” This isn’t “process nerd stuff.” This is the kind of move that changes what the public will tolerate… and what the government will attempt.

Because the raid isn’t just an investigation.

It’s a permission slip.

What happened (the facts we can say out loud)

On January 28, 2026, the FBI executed a court-authorized search warrant at Fulton County’s elections facility in Georgia, seeking 2020 election records…including physical ballots…voting machine tapes…and voter rolls.

Major outlets report this is part of a DOJ effort under Trump’s administration to re-examine the election Trump lost…and the search is tied to alleged violations of federal election laws/record handling.

And then there’s the optics grenade:

Gabbard’s presence…unusual for a role that traditionally centers foreign threats…sparked immediate alarm.

In other words: this wasn’t just “agents quietly collecting evidence.” This was a moment designed to be seen.

Why Gabbard being there changes the story

Sen. Mark Warner’s question is the right one, because it forces a fork in the road:

If the DNI is physically present at an FBI operation involving election records, then either:

1. There is a legitimate foreign-intelligence nexus (foreign interference, foreign actors, some classified predicate), or

2. This is a domestic political stunt…the intelligence community being used as a prop to legitimize a narrative.

Warner’s implied point is simple: either way, it’s serious. Because if it’s foreign intel, Congress should be briefed under the oversight framework that intelligence committees be kept “fully and currently informed” of U.S. intelligence activities.

And…if it’s not foreign intel…if it’s optics…then the government just blurred a line that should never be blurry.

Pause here and comment (in-app)

Which worries you more:

• A real foreign-intel predicate being kept vague, or

• IC politicization as stagecraft?

(Comment “FOREIGN” or “THEATER.”)

The part most people miss: “investigations” are often products

Let’s say this clearly:

An investigation can be used to find truth.

But it can also be used to manufacture belief.

Raids and “criminal probes” create headlines. Headlines create permission. Permission creates leverage.

And leverage is what allows the next step.

Even if nothing outcome-changing is found, the machine can still claim:

• “We’re closing in.”

• “We have proof.”

• “We had to act.”

• “We can’t let it happen again.”

That’s the trick: the process becomes the propaganda.

This is why you can’t judge the danger by whether they “prove fraud.” The danger is what they normalize while chasing it.

Here’s what we need to be watching for (and why)

Three tells. Three doors. If you understand these, you can see the play before the play arrives.

Tell #1: Do they ever name a specific foreign nexus—or stay vague?

If the administration claims a foreign-intelligence predicate, you should see:

• Specificity (even if partly classified)

• A consistent justification

• A paper trail of oversight (briefings, formal statements, documented predicates)

If it stays foggy….“we can’t say, but trust us”…that’s not national security. That’s narrative cover.

And it matters because vague “foreign interference” claims have been a recurring justification for extraordinary actions in modern politics…across countries…across eras.

Tell #2: Do they pivot from “investigation” to criminalizing election administration?

There is a world of difference between:

• pursuing a specific crime with evidence, and

• using law enforcement to intimidate election officials and freeze election systems into submission.

Watch for language like:

• “prosecutions are coming”

• “we’re cleaning house”

• “we need federal control”

• “states can’t be trusted”

The Washington Post and WSJ both note this action sits within a broader Trump administration effort to re-litigate 2020 and apply federal power to election-related disputes.

That’s why this is bigger than one county warehouse.

Tell #3: Do they use the raid imagery to pre-poison 2026 and 2028?

This is the endgame: conditioning.

If you can get enough people to believe “2020 was stolen,” you don’t just rewrite the past…you write a script for the future:

• Any Democratic win becomes suspect.

• Any close race becomes “evidence.”

• Any loss becomes “fraud.”

You are not just fighting over ballots.

You are fighting over…what the public will accept…when the next election arrives.

Brennan Center has warned that in the current environment…the federal government itself can become a driver of election distrust and interference…rather than a protector of election administration.

“But what if Fulton County actually did something wrong?”

Good question. Because this is where smart people get trapped.

Yes: election systems can have errors. Procedures can be violated. Records can be mishandled. People can break laws.

That’s exactly why we need two things at once:

1. Real accountability, and

2. Protection against politicized enforcement.

Here’s the key: accountability is specific.

It names:

• the statute…

• the alleged act…

• the evidence…

• the remedy…

• and the timeline.

Politicized enforcement is theater:

• sweeping insinuations…

• viral images…

• and vague promises of “proof” that never quite arrives.

Also note: federal law already has clear retention rules for election records (e.g., “retain and preserve” election records for a set period).

So this isn’t about the government lacking tools. It’s about how those tools are used…and to what end.

The part they’re betting on: fatigue

They are betting you’ll do one of two things:

1. Tune out (“I can’t take this anymore.”)

2. Scream into the void (“This is insane!”) and then move on.

Both outcomes help them.

Because…the opposite…what they fear…is a public that demands receipts in a way that creates consequences.

Say it with me:

Oversight. Limits. Receipts.

Not vibes. Not tribal “my side” energy. Receipts.

What you should do now (without overloading yourself)

I’m not going to dump 25 tasks on you. That’s not how people win.

Here are five moves that create leverage fast…without turning your life into a permanent panic attack:

1) Demand the predicate in plain English

The core question every official should be forced to answer is:

What is the legal basis and factual predicate for this action?

Not “trust us.” Not “we’re investigating.”
What statute…what alleged violation…what evidence category?

If they claim foreign intel…then they need to say so explicitly…or Congress needs to.

2) Insist on chain-of-custody transparency

When physical ballots and records move…chain-of-custody matters. Always.

You don’t have to be a lawyer to demand:

• Inventory logs

• Custody documentation

• Preservation procedures

• Access controls

This is where “integrity” lives…on paper.

3) Ask your Rep one yes/no question, in writing

Here’s the best kind of constituent pressure:

“Will you publicly demand written justification, chain-of-custody records, and oversight briefings—yes or no?”

You’re not arguing politics. You’re demanding accountable government.

4) Stop debating 2020 outcomes; start debating 2026 rules

This is how you avoid the trap.

You don’t need to relitigate every conspiracy claim. You need to defend the ground they’re trying to take next:

• Who controls election administration?

• Who can intimidate officials?

• Who can launder narratives through federal power?

5) Share this like it’s a firebreak—because it is

I’m not asking for charity.

I’m telling you a mechanical truth: the only defense against narrative manufacturing is narrative interruption.

If you want this to travel beyond the usual circles…do one simple thing:

Restack/share this post with one sentence:

“This isn’t about 2020. It’s about what comes next.”

That’s not begging. That’s distributing a warning label.

What “consequences” should look like (so we don’t settle for outrage)

A lot of people will ask: “So what? A senator complained. A post went viral. Who cares?”

Here’s what consequences look like in the real world:

• Oversight hearings

• Document demands

• Written briefings

• Public timelines

• Court challenges

• Whistleblower pathways protected

• Explicit constraints on how agencies can engage election infrastructure

If nothing else…this must become a public record: who authorized what…why…and under what predicate.

Because public record is what survives propaganda.

The bottom line

This isn’t about whether you love or hate Trump. That’s the distraction.

This is about…whether the government can stage an “investigation” as a mass-permission machine…one that conditions the public to accept extraordinary control over elections “for their own good.”

And…the presence of the DNI at a domestic election-record raid is a flare in the night sky.

We don’t doom-scroll.

We operate.

Oversight. Limits. Receipts.

Signal → move.

#HoldFast

I will…be back soon.

-Jack

Jack Hopkins

P.S. One last thing before you go: this story doesn’t spread on its own. It either gets contained…or it gets carried.

If you want to do something meaningful in under 30 seconds…don’t argue about 2020 in the comments section. Share/restack this with one line: “This isn’t about 2020. It’s about what comes next.”

That sentence breaks the spell. It pulls people out of the old trap and into the real one…what powers are being tested right now…and what we’re going to allow in 2026 and 2028.

And if you’re reading free, thank you for being here…your shares are how this reaches people who would never subscribe, but still need to see it.

P.P.S. By the way…about a week ago, The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter crossed 60,000+ total subscribers.

That’s not a vanity number. That’s distribution power.

It means when we decide something matters…we can push it into thousands of inboxes…Notes feeds…group chats…workplaces…and local communities in hours…not weeks.

That’s real leverage…in a moment when the other side is trying to win by exhaustion… confusion…and silence.

So…if you’ve ever wondered whether you can actually make a difference: this is how. Read. Share. Restack. Keep the signal alive.

-Jack

Resources

1. FBI search warrant + seized materials reporting (WaPo)

2. WSJ on DNI Gabbard’s 2020-fraud focus

3. Brennan Center: federal actions undermining next elections + timeline

4. Intelligence oversight standard (“fully and currently informed”) — 50 U.S.C. §3091

5. Federal election record preservation statute — 52 U.S.C. §20701

6. CISA joint statement on 2020 election security