The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion requesting the recusal of U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross from overseeing a case concerning Georgia election records. The request stems from reports that Judge Ross attended an event honoring Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is known for prosecuting former President Donald Trump.

Concerns Over Impartiality

The Justice Department argues that Judge Ross’s presence at the event, which was reportedly a celebration of Willis’s election, could be perceived as an endorsement of Willis’s actions, thus questioning the judge’s impartiality in the ongoing case. The case involves the DOJ’s lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over the release of voter lists.

Judge Ross, appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2014, has a background as a state and federal prosecutor in Atlanta. She has scheduled a hearing for the case, but the DOJ has requested a delay pending the resolution of the recusal motion.

Judicial Conduct Investigation

The motion for recusal also references a separate investigation by the Judicial Council of the 11th Circuit, which issued a private reprimand to an unnamed judge for attending a partisan event and engaging in inappropriate conduct. Media reports have identified Judge Ross as the judge involved, although this has not been independently confirmed by the Associated Press.

The investigation found that the judge attended a district attorney’s campaign event, which was deemed inappropriate. The Judicial Council’s decision to issue a private reprimand has been upheld by the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability of the Judicial Conference of the United States.

In addition to the recusal request, the Atlanta Police Department has launched an investigation into allegations of improper conduct involving a high-ranking police officer and a federal judge. The DOJ’s motion, however, focuses primarily on the potential appearance of bias due to the judge’s attendance at the partisan event.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.