A conservative researcher whose theories have often been rejected by Georgia election overseers and who once pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of voyeurism is emerging as a central figure in the investigation that culminated in the FBIs shocking seizure of 2020 election records from Fulton County, Georgia, in late January.The researcher, Kevin Moncla, has tried repeatedly to prove that the 2020 vote in Fulton County was tainted by fraud. Although many of his claims have been discredited or debunked, theyve continued to be cited by President Donald Trump and those connected to Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who helped Trump try to overturn the 2020 election and publicly pressed his administration to reinvestigate it.Last week, Moncla told ProPublica hed been interviewed twice by investigators, attorneys of various offices, who work on behalf of the U.S. government regarding his claims that proof of fraud could be found in Fulton Countys 2020 voting records. He said he provided them with data backing complaints hes filed to Georgias State Election Board.Other conservative activists linked to Mitchell have also claimed that Monclas work helped fuel government investigations related to Fulton County.According to a recording of a December video conference call obtained by ProPublica, two activists associated with Mitchells Election Integrity Network alleged that the Justice Department had used files and exhibits from Monclas research in suing Fulton County for the same records seized by the FBI. The DOJ filed the suit the day after purportedly soliciting Monclas materials, the activists said.They went to Kevin Moncla for that information, Garland Favorito, a leader in the Election Integrity Network, said on the call. (Moncla denied speaking with Justice Department officials but wouldnt say which agency he dealt with.) Favorito also claimed to have sent information to the DOJ himself.The DOJ knows who to call to get the information that they need, he said. Ill be honest with you, they rely on a lot of our stuff.A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to answer questions related to the claims by Moncla, Favorito and Mitchell, instead referring ProPublica to televised comments from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in which he said that the Trump administration is investigating issues around elections to make sure we have completely fair and appropriate elections. Blanche also said he could not comment on criminal investigations.Mitchell didnt respond to a request for comment from ProPublica, but on the day of the FBI raid, she pointed to information in a report authored by Moncla as the basis for the action.Screenshot via XThis is THE answer to everyones question, why did the FBI raid Fulton Countys election warehouse? Mitchell wrote on the social media platform X, linking to Monclas report.Favorito declined to answer specific questions, saying that hed had no contact with the FBI.It is not known what evidence the federal government used to show probable cause for the raid because the underlying affidavit was sealed.Last week, Fulton County commissioners sued to unseal the affidavit, arguing that debunked theories from Moncla and Favorito had supported the federal warrant.Experts said that if the affidavit was based on information sourced from the activists, it would raise questions about the raids legitimacy.If the underlying affidavit is based on thoroughly debunked assertions about unlawful activity, I think that is at least the basis for arguing that the probable cause does not exist, said Danielle Lang, the vice president of voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center.Over the weekend, the judge ordered the affidavit to be unsealed by the close of business on Tuesday.The 263-page report by Moncla, published in early January, is part of a yearslong campaign by him, Mitchell and others to get access to Fulton Countys 2020 election records. He acknowledged that not much in the report is new, but rather a compilation of complaints he and the other contributors have filed to Georgias State Election Board over the past five years.Many of the complaints have been dismissed by the board, after investigations by Georgias Republican secretary of state. Even when investigators have validated aspects of complaints, theyve found no evidence of malfeasance.In one high-profile instance, investigators reported that a small number of inconsistencies were not due to the intentional misconduct by Fulton Countys election staff but due to human error in entering the data, and that these did not affect the result of the 2020 General Election Fulton County, which were confirmed as accurate.Moncla said he didnt trust the secretary of states conclusions, calling him a politician who doesnt have any fucking credibility, and said his own research proved the issues with Fulton Countys 2020 vote went beyond human error.The secretary of states office didnt respond to questions about Monclas criticism.Trump and his lawyers have continued to cite Monclas claims about election fraud in Fulton County even as unsavory incidents in his past have surfaced and other conservatives have called him untrustworthy.In 2004, Moncla pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor voyeurism charge and was subsequently ordered by a jury to pay $3.25 million in damages after secretly filming guests in his home bathroom.Moncla told ProPublica the matter had no bearing on his election-related research. That has nothing to do with this, he said. That was 20 years ago in a divorce custody battle.In a case stemming from the 2020 election, a lawyer for the conservative website The Gateway Pundit called Moncla a goddamned fraud and a known fabricator, according to a court filing. The messages were revealed in a defamation lawsuit against the website, which had accused two election workers in Fulton County of committing fraud. One of the sites reporters had communicated with Moncla. The case ended in a settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed. Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay around $150 million for repeating related discredited claims against the two election workers.Moncla said people were free to examine his research and make up their own minds. I dont want people to trust me, he said. I want people to trust the countys records and facts and the report, which he described as meticulously documented.Moncla said hed been surprised by the FBIs raid on the Fulton County election center, which he found out about via Fox News. He also said he thought his report was being exploited for political gain and that what hes found shouldnt be the basis for a criminal action.Im not saying that Trump won the election. Im saying that Georgias election system is broken and needs to be fixed, he said. I dont want anyone to go to jail. I dont want anyone to be hurt.The post The Conservative Researcher Being Linked to the FBIs Seizure of Election Records in Georgia appeared first on ProPublica.