Federal Judge Eleanor Ross Apologizes to Former Clerk as Georgia Republicans File Impeachment Articles

Judge Eleanor Ross, nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2014 and confirmed by the Senate that same year, was the subject of an investigation initiated by 11th U.S. Circuit Chief Judge William Pryor. A special committee found that Ross had engaged in sexual activity with Atlanta Police Department Deputy Chief Kelley Collier in her chambers during business hours, that at least three former clerks heard sounds from the chambers, and that Ross attended a partisan political event the evening before presiding over a criminal revocation proceeding.

The committee also found that Ross made false statements when first confronted with the allegations. She denied any sexual activity in her office and suggested the law clerk who raised the complaint may have invented the claims in retaliation for being required to work in the office. Ross did not recant those statements until October 10, 2025, after the special committee had gathered corroborating evidence, including security footage and access logs showing a uniformed officer had frequently visited her chambers around lunchtime. The committee declined to treat the recantation as absolution because it came only after Ross likely knew her false statements had been, or were about to be, exposed.

Following the investigation, Ross received a private reprimand that did not publicly name her, agreed not to seek the position of chief district judge when eligible, and agreed to write apology letters to six former law clerks. In a letter last week, Ross wrote that her "actions were patently wrong, and there is no excuse," that her previous letter to the clerk was "entirely deficient," and that she also owed the clerk an apology for a "false accusation" she had made against that person.