Pressure is escalating on a federal judge in Atlanta after an investigation uncovered that she lied about an extramarital affair with a high-ranking police officer and engaged in sexual activity within earshot of her clerks. The revelations have triggered outrage among lawyers, calls for an impeachment inquiry from a prominent ethics watchdog, and a move by the Trump administration to have her removed from a key lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross, nominated to the bench by President Obama in 2013, is at the center of the storm. A 20-page investigative report released by her fellow judges details a roughly two-year affair, with clerks reporting hearing kissing and moaning sounds from her chambers. Initially, Ross denied the allegations but later recanted her statement.
While the report does not name Ross directly, the details were specific enough for commentators and reporters to quickly identify her. The report states, "The Subject Judge's conduct regarding the relationship—particularly when it came to sexual activity in chambers—demonstrated a gross lack of judgment. Regardless of whether the Subject Judge intended to do so, the judge created a chambers workplace that was extremely uncomfortable and troubling for clerks."
The investigation resulted in a private reprimand, along with concessions that Ross will issue letters of apology to her former clerks and will forgo serving as the district's chief judge or on a Judicial Conference committee in the future. But many say these measures fall short.
Gabe Roth, director of the judiciary ethics reform group Fix the Court, called for Congress to "dig deeper" and consider impeachment. "After an underwhelming result to this point, which looks more like judges protecting their own than serious remediation or punishment, Congress must step in and on a bipartisan basis determine if Judge Ross recanting her false statements is enough to shield her from harsher penalties," Roth said in a statement.
The Trump administration has seized on separate revelations that Ross attended Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's victory party. Defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who gained national attention for exposing Willis's romance with a prosecutor she hired to prosecute Trump, found photographic evidence of Ross at the event. In the photo, Ross is seen wearing a blue dress.
The administration has filed a motion to remove Ross from a lawsuit it brought seeking to force Georgia to turn over voter data to the federal government. "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," the Justice Department wrote in its Friday motion.
Impeaching a federal judge remains rare. The Senate has not removed a federal judge since 2010, when U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous was ousted after evidence showed he accepted cash from lawyers. Other efforts have stalled, such as the case of U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred, who resigned from his post in Alaska amid misconduct accusations before the House could vote on an impeachment referral. Unlike Kindred, Ross remains on the bench.
The scandal adds to a growing list of judicial ethics controversies, including the Platner sexting scandal that overshadowed a D.C. meeting with Senate Democrats. The case also highlights the intersection of judicial conduct and partisan politics, as the Trump administration leverages the affair to challenge Ross's impartiality. Meanwhile, the broader debate over judicial accountability continues, with some drawing parallels to populist scandal politics seen in figures like Platner and Paxton.
