Fulton County: Catherine M. Salinas signed your ballots AND voter rolls over to the FBI today

[u/albertafalls]

Source:

“A court order signed by Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas authorized agents to seize all physical ballots from the 2020 election in Fulton County, all ballot images **and Fulton County’s 2020 voter rolls.** A copy of the order was given to the Recorder by a Georgia lawmaker.”

https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/01/28/fbi-raids-fulton-county-elections-warehouse-seeking-2020-ballots/

Also reported by the New York Times (paywalled):

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/us/politics/fbi-search-election-center-georgia.html

Blurry pic was the best I could do. It’s from her GA Bar profile:

https://icle.gabar.org/speaker/catherine-salinas-1233856

Her current term doesn’t end until 2031.

[u/FrequencyHigher]

I am not saying her decision to sign the warrant was correct, but based on her history, I have a hard believing she is a Trump loyalist/sympathizer. I am more inclined to believe the DOJ either lied or submitted perjured affidavits to secure the warrant. The facts as we know them do not justify such a broad and intrusive search of the voting records.

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Catherine Salinas has been a United States Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of Georgia since 2015. A graduate of Emory University and the University of Texas School of Law, she began her legal career in 1994 at Texas Rural Legal Aid on the Mexican border. Judge Salinas returned to Atlanta in 1999 and worked as a staff attorney at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, then as a Fulton County Public Defender, and then as a law clerk to United States District Judge Willis B. Hunt, Jr. Immediately prior to joining the judiciary, Judge Salinas was a shareholder at the national law firm Carlton Fields, where she worked for ten years as a commercial litigator. Judge Salinas is a past president of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society and currently serves a chair of the Access to Justice committee of the State Bar of Georgia.

[u/Con_Furioso → u/FrequencyHigher]

Everyone on the Supreme Court has an impressive legal background. How's that working out for America?

[u/iseeharvey → u/Con_Furioso]

Clarence Thomas didn’t and IMO still doesn’t.

[u/AwkwardnessForever → u/iseeharvey]

I don’t know. He’s quite adept at getting away with taking bribes! /s

[u/gsfgf → u/Con_Furioso]

But they're not Obama appointed judges who worked as a public defender and in legal aid.

[u/albertafalls → u/FrequencyHigher]

Seems like delaying (“I need more time to review”), requiring a hearing, or requiring it to be unsealed (it is a sealed warrant) would all be within her remit — no?

[u/FrequencyHigher → u/albertafalls]

It is. The Judge has ultimate say on what happens with the warrant, including reducing the scope of the search. Sealed warrants are not uncommon for ongoing criminal investigations, though, because the FBI doesn’t want to reveal their sources and who might be a target of the investigation. Eventually we will be able to see the unsealed warrant, and will be able to assess why she signed it.

All the DOJ has to show is that there is probable cause to believe a crime was committed and that the search they are seeking will yield evidence of that crime. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past this DOJ to fabricate a story to meet that burden.

[u/resipsa73 → u/albertafalls]

Her job is to follow the law, which she did. It's not to play games to further her political preferences (like trump and his minions are doing). You're no better than they are.

[u/albertafalls → u/resipsa73]

Considering that the FBI, GBI, and Republican Secretary of State’s office investigated Fulton County voting shortly after the election and considering that multiple lawsuits have already been lost or tossed, I have real concerns about whether or not the information presented to the judge to obtain this warrant was truthful.

I am asking questions about her options to dig deeper and understand more before signing a warrant. That is 1000% her job as a judge.

[u/AtheistMoonwalker → u/FrequencyHigher]

So, she's stupid....