Federal prosecutors are demanding a judge remove herself from a Georgia election records dispute, claiming her participation in an event celebrating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis creates concerns about her impartiality in the case.
Court investigators issued a “private reprimand” to a federal judge in the 11th Judicial Circuit after determining she engaged in sexual activity in the courthouse with a senior uniformed police officer within hearing distance of court staff, participated in a partisan political event, and initially provided false statements denying the accusations.
The court’s probe did not reveal the judge’s name or specific courthouse location within the 11th Circuit, which covers Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Federal prosecutors are basing their recusal request on news reports identifying U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross in Atlanta as the subject of the investigation.
The Associated Press could not verify the judge’s identity independently. A staff member answering calls at Ross’ office Friday indicated the judge was not available and directed inquiries about the accusations to the court’s media relations department, which stated, “Judge Ross has no comment right now.” The media office did not respond Saturday to follow-up questions about the federal recusal motion.
While federal judges serve lifetime appointments, they face potential disciplinary measures including censure, public or private reprimands, and temporary case suspensions. Removal requires congressional impeachment proceedings.
Ross received her nomination in January 2014 from then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, with Senate confirmation following in November of that year. She previously presided over state court matters in DeKalb County, which encompasses a portion of Atlanta, beginning in 2011. Before her judicial career, she spent over ten years as a state and federal prosecutor, primarily in Atlanta.
Ross currently handles the election records lawsuit filed by federal prosecutors against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Federal prosecutors have initiated legal action against several states seeking complete voter registration databases. Raffensperger maintains that Georgia statutes prevent disclosure of voters’ private information without meeting specific requirements, which he says the federal government has not satisfied. He indicated that Georgia provided the publicly available portion of voter records to federal authorities in December.
Ross has set a Wednesday hearing for the matter, though federal prosecutors want to postpone that proceeding pending their recusal request.
In the disciplinary matter involving the unnamed federal judge, the Judicial Council of the 11th Circuit decided in a February ruling to issue a private reprimand while maintaining the judge’s anonymity. The Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability of the Judicial Conference of the United States upheld that decision on May 22.
The investigation findings attached to the ruling indicate the judge attended a function hosted by a district attorney’s campaign. The judge admitted going to the event to meet with former district attorney’s office colleagues at a private gathering held at the same location but separate from the prosecutor’s victory celebration.
Ross previously served in the Fulton County district attorney’s office and worked alongside Willis before Willis became district attorney.
Willis launched an investigation into Trump and associates for potential 2020 election interference in Fulton County shortly after taking office in January 2021. Her examination included a January 2021 telephone conversation where Trump pressed Raffensperger to help “find” sufficient votes to reverse Democrat Joe Biden’s Georgia victory in the 2020 presidential race.
Willis secured an indictment in August 2023 against Trump and 18 co-defendants, charging them with participating in an extensive conspiracy to reverse Georgia’s 2020 election outcome. An appeals court ultimately dismissed the case in November after determining an “appearance of impropriety” resulted from a romantic relationship Willis maintained with the external attorney she recruited to spearhead the prosecution.
“A judge who attended a party celebrating the election of a Democrat best known for prosecuting a Republican President for alleged election interference cannot then preside over a case concerning that President’s efforts to ensure election integrity,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in their filing Friday.
Federal prosecutors contended that any “objective reasonable observer” would interpret Ross’ attendance at Willis’ election night celebration as supporting her election and official actions.
“If Judge Ross is indeed the Subject Judge, that conduct gives rise to an appearance of bias, which requires Judge Ross to recuse herself from this election-related case,” the Justice Department filing says.
The federal filing briefly references the accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct with a police officer in the judge’s chambers and subsequent false denials, but notes “those are not the subject of this Motion.”
Additionally, the Atlanta Police Department announced it has launched an investigation to determine whether the “high-ranking law enforcement officer” found to have engaged in sexual activity with a federal judge in chambers belongs to their department.
