U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross recused herself from a Georgia election records case on Tuesday after the Justice Department raised concerns about her impartiality, citing her previous attendance at a campaign event for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Ross, an Obama appointee serving on the Northern District of Georgia, filed the recusal order after the DOJ sought her removal from the case. The DOJ is suing Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to obtain an unredacted statewide voter list, and Ross had been presiding over the dispute.
In her five-page order, Ross wrote that she was recusing herself “out of an abundance of caution for the potential perception of bias.” She acknowledged that while she does not believe she is actually biased, an objective observer might interpret her attendance at a 2024 event sponsored by Willis’ campaign as signaling support for the district attorney’s position on election matters. Ross noted she attended the event only to see former colleagues from the district attorney’s office, where she had previously worked.
The Justice Department welcomed the decision. According to Politico, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, wrote on social media that “our specific legal arguments and common sense prevailed in this motion.”
Ross’s recusal came weeks after a judicial panel upheld a decision to issue her a private reprimand for misconduct. According to PBS and the Politico report, the investigation found that Ross had engaged in sexual activity with a law enforcement officer in her judicial chambers within earshot of her staff and law clerks, failed to supervise the clerks properly, attended the Willis campaign event, and displayed a lack of candor during the ethics investigation. Ross initially denied the allegations when confronted.
Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, gained national prominence after she prosecuted President Donald Trump and 18 others in 2023 over alleged efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. That criminal case was ultimately dismissed in November 2025. The Trump administration’s current DOJ lawsuit seeking voter data is part of a broader effort; according to Politico, the Justice Department has filed similar cases against 30 states, with eight of those suits already dismissed by judges.
The Georgia case has been reassigned to U.S. District Judge Victoria Calvert, a Biden appointee, according to Politico. The case centers on a dispute over voter data protection, with Raffensperger’s office arguing that releasing sensitive personal information from voter rolls—including names, dates of birth, addresses, and partial Social Security numbers—poses privacy and security risks.
Sources
- PBS News — Reported Ross’s recusal, the prior disciplinary findings, and details of the misconduct investigation
- Politico — Provided the full text of Ross’s recusal order, DOJ official commentary, and context on the broader DOJ voter-data litigation against 30 states
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Reported Ross’s statement about the perception of bias and her prior work relationship with Willis
