Director Kash Patel's FBI has ordered every field office to immediately send analysts to support its investigation into the 2020 election in Georgia, according to a new report.
MS NOW obtained an unclassified memo showing Patel is mobilizing 260 intelligence analysts — from every field office in the country — as part of what the bureau calls a "priority effort" in Atlanta.
"In support of the Director's Office priority effort, the Directorate of Intelligence (DI) and Criminal Division are requesting all FBI field offices to immediately surge support to an FBI Atlanta priority investigation," the memo said.
Each analyst must complete 708 records checks by July 17, MS NOW said.
"Overtime (including weekends and holidays) has been authorized," the memo added.
"Looking for derogatory information is the short answer," one official told MS NOW. "The idea is to build a case. Look at associations between people, look into their social media, their business activity, travel, contact with other investigative subjects."
In January, Patel's FBI raided the Fulton County Elections and Operations Hub, seizing more than 600 boxes of records. The warrant relied largely on claims previously debunked by Republican-led investigations in Georgia. Then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accompanied the FBI during the search and arranged for President Donald Trump to speak by phone with agents on-site.
The Department of Justice issued subpoenas in April for the personal information of thousands of 2020 election workers in the state. The FBI has also targeted 2020 records in Arizona and Wisconsin. Patel predicted arrests in April, though none have come.
Democratic Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said the county has been targeted for years because it rejected Trump's "big lie" that the 2020 election was stolen.
"These ongoing efforts are about intimidation and distraction, not facts," Pitts said.
Former President Joe Biden beat Trump in Georgia in 2020 by 11,779 votes. Trump has long pushed for ongoing investigations into his loss to Biden.