ATLANTA — A federal judge who faced discipline following an investigation into serious misconduct has stepped away from a Georgia election records case after the U.S. Department of Justice questioned whether she could remain impartial.
U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross filed an order on Tuesday recusing herself from the case, saying she was doing so “out of an abundance of caution for the potential perception of bias.”
The Justice Department had moved to have Ross removed from the proceedings, pointing to her reported attendance at an event connected to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — the prosecutor who brought charges against President Donald Trump related to Georgia’s 2020 election.
The case before Ross involved the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the federal government is seeking an unredacted copy of the statewide voter list.
In her recusal order, Ross acknowledged the politically charged nature of the situation. “Both the Trump administration’s present and Willis’s past efforts have become heavily polarized,” she wrote, adding that she “cannot discount” that a neutral outside observer might view her attendance at a Willis campaign-sponsored event as a sign of support for the district attorney — even though she said she only attended to reconnect with former colleagues.
Ross previously worked in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and crossed paths with Willis there before Willis rose to become district attorney.
A prior court investigation found that Ross had sex with a high-ranking uniformed police officer inside the courthouse within earshot of staff members, attended a partisan political event, and then initially denied the allegations when confronted. As a result, she received a “private reprimand.”
According to the investigation report, the event Ross attended was hosted by a district attorney’s campaign. Ross stated that the district attorney had been a personal friend since 1999 and that she had attended a private gathering on the sidelines of the event to visit with former coworkers from the district attorney’s office.
Willis secured an indictment in August 2023 against Trump and 18 other individuals, alleging they took part in a broad effort to reverse the outcome of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. That criminal case was ultimately dismissed in November.
