House Republicans Seek Information on Federal Judge Eleanor Ross's Judicial Misconduct

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Rep. Clay Fuller (R-GA) sent a letter to Chief Judge William Pryor, Jr., chair of the Judicial Council of the Eleventh Circuit, seeking information on the investigation of Judge Eleanor Ross after a special committee appointed by his office found that she engaged in at least three instances of judicial misconduct, including engaging in an extramarital affair while in her chambers, attending a partisan event, and making false statements during a judicial misconduct inquiry.

On September 22, 2025, the Chief Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, Leigh Martin May, sent a memorandum to Chief Judge Pryor alleging that Judge Ross had "engaged in judicial misconduct." According to the memorandum, Chief Judge May received information from a law clerk in Judge Ross's office, who alleged that the judge engaged in an extramarital affair with a uniformed police officer during work hours in her chambers and "within hearing distance of the judge's clerks."

On September 30, 2025, Chief Judge Pryor appointed a special committee to investigate Judge Ross's alleged misconduct, including allegations that Judge Ross "did not mentor [her] clerks or substantively edit clerks' written work product," and that, on one occasion, she mistreated her "staff" by "yelling and cursing" at them. At the time of the allegations, Judge Ross supervised six law clerks and each of them told the special committee that Judge Ross failed to properly supervise their work on civil cases, and that many of them "were uncomfortable with the level of discretion they appeared to exercise" in these cases.

The special committee determined that Judge Ross lied to Chief Judge Pryor and Chief Judge May regarding her conduct with the uniformed police officer in her office. Specifically, on September 29, 2025, when Chief Judge Pryor informed Judge Ross about the allegations, Judge Ross falsely denied that she had engaged in the conduct and that she was "not sure who this allegation concerns or whether it is alleged to have occurred with different individuals." In addition, Judge Ross falsely asserted that she had "no idea what this clerk is referring to or why [the clerk] has made such allegations." On October 10, 2025, Judge Ross submitted a supplemental response to Chief Judge Pryor retracting her prior statements and admitting they were false.

The special committee also discovered that Judge Ross attended "a primary election victory party for a District Attorney," which it described as "a partisan political event." Public reporting has indicated that the District Attorney in question is Fani Willis, the Democrat District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia.

As a result of the special committee concluding that Judge Ross engaged in three instances of judicial misconduct, it recommended that Judge Ross be privately reprimanded.

"The American people deserve confidence that our judicial system is operating with integrity and accountability. I am proud to stand alongside my colleagues in calling for action in response to Judge Ross's unacceptable conduct. Those who serve on the federal bench must be held to the highest standards, and this behavior falls far short of what the people of Georgia and our country deserve. Sending this letter is an important step in moving the ball forward, and I look forward to working with Chairman Jordan and Chairman Issa to ensure Judge Ross is held accountable," said Rep. Fuller.

Read the letter to Chief Judge Pryor here.

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