Overview
- Ross filed an order disqualifying herself from the DOJ lawsuit over Georgia’s unredacted voter registration list on Tuesday, saying she acted “out of an abundance of caution” because an objective observer might perceive bias.
- The recusal came after an 11th Circuit investigation produced a private reprimand that found Ross had sexual relations in her chambers, attended a partisan event tied to Fulton County DA Fani Willis, and initially gave inaccurate statements when questioned.
- The Justice Department had moved to disqualify Ross and filed a notice that it would seek a writ of mandamus from the appeals court if she did not step aside, a tactic DOJ officials say helped secure the voluntary recusal.
- The case against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, which seeks nonpublic voter data including sensitive identifiers, will continue under a newly assigned federal judge after Ross’s order.
- Separate institutional and political actions are ongoing: Republican members of Congress filed articles of impeachment against Ross and Atlanta police have opened a personnel inquiry, while judicial discipline remains a private record under the Judicial Council process.