ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� Two congressional Republicans from Georgia have introduced impeachment resolutions against a after an investigation found she had sex with a police officer in her chambers, attended a partisan political event and lied to investigators looking into the alleged misconduct.
U.S. Reps. Clay Fuller and Andrew Clyde filed the resolutions against U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross. Clyde wrote Tuesday on social media that Ross’ 鈥渄eeply disturbing actions prove she is incapable of displaying integrity or impartiality. She must be impeached and removed from the bench.鈥�
It is up to the House Judiciary Committee to decide whether to start impeachment proceedings against Ross. Federal judges are appointed for life and can only be removed from the bench through impeachment.
A person who answered the phone in the judge鈥檚 chambers Tuesday afternoon said Ross had no comment.
Ross was nominated to the Northern District of Georgia in January 2014 by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and she was confirmed by the Senate in November of that year. She had previously served as a state court judge in DeKalb County, which includes a small part of Atlanta, since 2011. Before taking the bench, she had worked as a state and federal prosecutor, mostly in Atlanta, for more than a decade.
The investigation of Ross began after one of her law clerks reported that on multiple occasions the judge had engaged in sexual activity with a high-ranking uniformed police officer in her office within earshot of staff. It also was alleged that the judge didn鈥檛 properly supervise clerks and on one occasion yelled and cursed at staff.
Ross received a 鈥減rivate reprimand鈥� after the investigation confirmed the sexual activity and found she attended a partisan event and initially lied to deny the allegations.
The court鈥檚 investigation did not publicly identify the judge or the court location within the 11th Circuit鈥檚 jurisdiction, which includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia. A person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter confirmed to The Associated Press that Ross was the judge who was disciplined.
Separately, the Atlanta Police Department has said it has to determine whether the 鈥渉igh-ranking law enforcement officer鈥� found to have had sex with a federal judge in the judge鈥檚 chambers is a member of their department.
William Pryor, the chief judge of the 11th Circuit, opened the initial investigation of Ross. He asked her to respond to the clerk’s allegations and she replied the same day and 鈥渟pecifically denied鈥� each allegation. In a follow-up email the next day, the judge speculated to Pryor that the law clerk may have invented things in retaliation for being required to work in the office.
Pryor appointed a special committee to investigate. That investigation was detailed in a report attached to the disciplinary order.
The committee鈥檚 review of logs and security footage showed an officer had frequently visited the judge鈥檚 chambers in uniform around lunchtime. Six clerks recalled seeing someone who fit the officer鈥檚 description, with three remembering overhearing what may have been sexual activity in the judge鈥檚 office.
Three clerks remembered bringing summer interns on their first day to watch the judge presiding over a hearing in a criminal case. Right after that, they told the committee, the judge declined to have lunch with the interns, acknowledging having too many martinis the night before at a primary election victory party for a district attorney friend.
The clerks said the judge didn鈥檛 provide sufficient guidance and 鈥渞arely, if ever, substantively edited civil orders the clerks drafted.鈥� While clerks described an 鈥渆ggshell culture,鈥� the committee didn鈥檛 find evidence of abusive behavior.
The judge ultimately admitted to having an extramarital sexual relationship with the officer but denied the allegations about mistreatment of staff, the committee wrote. The judge acknowledged to the committee having gone to a 鈥渕ixer鈥� of former employees of a district attorney鈥檚 office, where the judge used to work but said it was in a separate room from the victory party.
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