U.S. judge disciplined for sex in chambers apologizes for ‘offensive conduct’

U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross has disqualified herself from a case where the Department of Justice sought Georgia's non-public voter registration list. Her decision to step aside came after she was reprimanded for misconduct, including having sex with a police officer in her chambers and attending a political event.

The event in question was hosted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat known for prosecuting former President Donald Trump for alleged interference in the 2020 election. Ross's attendance at this campaign event became public after the 11th Circuit Judicial Council reprimanded her.

The Justice Department had argued that Ross's presence at an election-related event for Willis, who is prosecuting Trump, meant she could not impartially preside over a case concerning the former president's efforts to ensure election integrity. The lawsuit is one of many filed by the Trump administration seeking unredacted voter files to probe compliance with federal election laws.

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Perceived support of Willis’s position on election ​integrity could cause an objective observer to significantly doubt the undersigned’s impartiality in this case

Judge Ross, appointed by President Barack Obama, acknowledged that an objective observer might perceive her attendance as support for Willis's views on election integrity, thus creating an appearance of bias. "Perceived support of Willis’s position on election integrity could cause an objective observer to significantly doubt the undersigned’s impartiality in this case," she wrote in her decision.

The case has now been reassigned to U.S. District Judge Victoria Calvert. The Justice Department had threatened to seek intervention from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals if Ross did not voluntarily recuse herself. This recusal is the latest consequence of a judicial misconduct case against Ross, which has led some Republican lawmakers to call for her impeachment.

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didn’t voluntarily recuse from our high-profile election integrity case