The Justice Department on Friday formally requested that a federal judge step aside from overseeing its lawsuit against Georgia election officials, pointing to her participation in an event honoring Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as grounds for reasonable doubt about her neutrality.
In a motion filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, DOJ attorneys argued that Judge Eleanor Ross should recuse herself from the department's legal battle with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over access to the state's voting records. The case has drawn national attention amid ongoing disputes over election integrity.
The move comes after the Associated Press reported that a federal judge in the 11th Judicial Circuit received a private reprimand earlier this year following an investigation that uncovered the judge had engaged in sexual activity in a courthouse with a high-ranking uniformed police officer. Investigators also found the judge attended a partisan event and made false statements about the allegations. While the court's report did not name the judge or specify the location, the Justice Department relied on media reports to identify Ross as the subject.
According to the AP, the investigation revealed that the judge attended an event hosted by a district attorney's campaign. Ross acknowledged going to the event to reconnect with former colleagues from the district attorney's office at a private mixer, which was part of a larger partisan campaign event. Before her appointment to the bench, Ross worked in the Fulton County district attorney's office and overlapped with Willis there before Willis became district attorney.
The Justice Department's filing contends that Ross's presence at the celebration of Willis—a Democrat best known for prosecuting a Republican president for alleged election interference—would lead any reasonable observer to question her impartiality in a case involving election-related issues and the Trump administration. “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,” DOJ lawyers wrote.
Ross has scheduled a hearing in the case against Raffensperger for Wednesday. The Justice Department has asked to delay that hearing pending the recusal decision. The department's lawsuit seeks access to Georgia's voting records, part of a broader federal push to examine election procedures.
This controversy echoes other recent judicial recusal battles. In a separate case, a California judge removed a Jewish district attorney from a Stanford vandalism case over antisemitism concerns. Meanwhile, former President Trump has publicly criticized a federal judge for blocking his Kennedy Center renaming and closure plan.
The backdrop includes a January FBI raid in Fulton County that seized ballots and election materials, stemming from Trump's claims of election rigging in the 2020 presidential contest. Willis indicted Trump on racketeering charges in 2023, but the case was dropped in 2025 after it emerged that Willis had a romantic relationship with a man she appointed to lead the prosecution.
The court's media office declined comment on behalf of Ross, stating, “Judge Ross has no comment right now.” The AP has not independently confirmed the judge's identity. The recusal request adds another layer of complexity to the high-stakes legal fight over Georgia's election records.
