Fani Willis spent years trying to put Donald Trump in prison for challenging Georgia's 2020 election results.
Now the DOJ is suing Georgia over voter rolls – and discovered who Obama put on the bench to decide the case.
What this judge did with Willis is the whole story.
Judge Eleanor Ross Was Sanctioned for Misconduct Before This Case Landed on Her Desk
U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross – an Obama appointee sitting on the Atlanta federal bench – was formally found by the 11th Judicial Circuit to have engaged in judicial misconduct by attending a partisan event promoting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's 2024 reelection campaign.
The Justice Department flagged it in its court filing, signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
"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."
Ross didn't just attend any Democrat's party. She showed up to celebrate the woman who built a criminal case against Trump and 18 of his allies for questioning the same Georgia election results the DOJ is now trying to audit.
She previously worked in the Fulton County District Attorney's office – the same office Willis later ran. T
hey were colleagues before Willis ever charged Trump. The 11th Circuit kept the judge's identity secret in its misconduct order; the DOJ is relying on media reports to identify Ross as the subject judge.
The 11th Circuit Reprimanded Ross for the Fani Willis Event and Said Nothing Publicly
The 11th Circuit issued Ross a private reprimand in February – so quiet the court refused to publicly name her.
A Judicial Conference upheld it on May 22. Her misconduct findings covered the Willis campaign event, lying to investigators during the inquiry, and what the disciplinary report called "improper sexual activity in chambers with a law enforcement officer."
The court formally sanctioned a sitting federal judge for conducting a sexual affair inside her courthouse chambers while her staff could hear it.
As part of her discipline, Ross agreed not to seek the role of chief judge, to skip Judicial Conference committee work, and to write apology letters to the clerks who were subjected to her conduct.
She kept her seat. Removing a federal judge requires an act of Congress – impeachment – which is why the system's answer to lying, partisan activity, and chamber misconduct was a quiet letter and a handshake deal.
For any other employee in America, that conduct ends with a box and an escort to the elevator.
DOJ Demands Eleanor Ross Recuse Herself From Georgia Voter Rolls Case
The DOJ's voter roll push isn't a fishing expedition. Harmeet Dhillon has been methodical – suing more than 20 states under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, demanding the voter registration data the law requires states to produce.
Georgia is one of them. The case landed in front of Ross. A hearing is scheduled for June 3.
Every day Ross stays on this case is a day the DOJ has to fight for a fair courtroom on top of everything else – pushing for election integrity before a judge who celebrated the prosecutor who tried to jail Trump for questioning the same election.
Obama put her on the bench. Willis put her in a room. Now she's deciding what happens to Georgia's voter rolls – and the only thing standing between her and that ruling is whether she does the right thing voluntarily.
Don't hold your breath.
Georgia also happens to be the single most important Senate race in the country this November.
Senator Jon Ossoff is the only Democrat up for re-election in a state Trump carried in 2024 – which makes it the GOP's best shot at flipping a seat and expanding the Senate majority. Republicans fighting to win that state need clean voter rolls and a fair courtroom. They have neither.
Sources:
- David Zimmermann, "DOJ requests recusal of Georgia election case judge over misconduct scandal," Washington Examiner, May 30, 2026.
- "DOJ seeks recusal of judge from Georgia election case over reported attendance at Fani Willis event," Washington Times, May 30, 2026.
- Kim Jarrett, "Justice Department sues Georgia for voting records," Just The News, December 18, 2025.
- "DOJ revives Georgia lawsuit seeking sensitive voter information," Georgia Recorder, January 28, 2026.
