Politics
DOJ seeks Judge Eleanor Ross recusal in Georgia election case, citing reports she was disciplined

Published Sat, May 30 2026 1:29 PM EDT
Updated Sat, May 30 2026 5:47 PM EDT
Dan Mangan
@_DanMangan
@in/danmangancnbc/

KEY POINTS
• The Department of Justice on Friday asked a Georgia federal judge, Eleanor Ross, to recuse herself from a pending case involving election records, citing media reports identifying her as the judge who was disciplined for attending a victory party for a district attorney's campaign.
• The DOJ said that, if the reports are correct, "it creates the appearance of bias," because the victory party would have been in May 2024 for Fulton County DA Fani Willis, who prosecuted President Donald Trump for an alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss in Georgia to former President Joe Biden.
• Ross has not responded to requests asking if she is the judge who was disciplined for attending a DA's election event. CNBC has not confirmed the reports.


U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor Ross confirmation hearing, May 14, 2014, Senate Judiciary Committee - C-Span
C-Span
The Department of Justice on Friday asked Georgia federal judge Eleanor Ross to recuse herself from a pending case involving election records, citing media reports identifying Ross as the same judge who was disciplined for attending a victory party for a district attorney's campaign.

The DOJ said that if Ross is that judge, "it creates the appearance of bias," because the victory party would have been in May 2024 for Fulton County DA Fani Willis, who prosecuted President Donald Trump for an alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss in Georgia to former President Joe Biden.

"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," the DOJ said in the motion for Ross' recusal, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

The DOJ does not claim in the filing to have independently identified Ross, 58, as the judge who was disciplined, and CNBC has not confirmed that she is the judge. ... CNBC this week asked two of Ross's clerks to ask her to confirm to a reporter whether she is the judge disciplined by the Judicial Council. ... Ross did not respond to those queries.

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