ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge had an extramarital affair with a high-ranking police officer — including having sex in the judge's chambers that was overheard by staff — and initially lied about the actions but remains on the bench after receiving a “private reprimand,” according to an investigation by the court system.
The Judicial Council of the 11th Judicial Circuit, which includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia, said in a February order that the judge would receive a private reprimand. The Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability of the Judicial Conference of the United States last week affirmed that order.
The judge’s name and court location within the 11th Circuit were not disclosed, and The Associated Press was unable to confirm the judge's identity.
Federal judges are appointed for life but can be subject to disciplinary action, including censure, public or private reprimands and temporary withholding of cases. They can only be removed through impeachment by Congress.
According to the investigation, the judge and the unidentified officer had “sexual intercourse in the judge’s chambers during business hours within hearing distance of staff” and that the judge went to a partisan political event. The judge initially called the allegations “outrageous” and denied them.
In deciding to impose a private reprimand that kept the judge's name secret, the committee said it took into account that the judge recanted the false statements. The committee also found that the judge was unlikely to engage in similar misconduct in the future, noting that the judge had ended the relationship and committed to avoiding partisan political events in the future. And the committee took into account the judge’s “otherwise exemplary service to the court.”
“Although the special committee is deeply troubled by the conduct in which the judge engaged, the Subject Judge has demonstrated a strong propensity for rehabilitation and continued diligent service to the judiciary,” the committee’s report says.
Lester Tate, a lawyer who often defends Georgia judges facing misconduct in the state judicial system, said the punishment feels like a “slap on the wrist.”
“I'm shocked that there was not a more severe punishment for the false statements that were made by this judge during the course of the investigation,” he said, adding that he always advises his clients that it is best to tell the truth.
A person who is appointed for life and sits in judgment of others needs to be honest about their own flaws, and most people would likely find “being held up for a little public scorn” appropriate in this case, Tate said.
The genesis for the investigation was one of the judge's law clerks reporting the judge had engaged in sexual activity with an officer on multiple occasions in the judge’s office. It also was alleged the judge didn’t properly supervise clerks and on one occasion yelled and cursed at staff.
William Pryor, chief judge of the 11th Circuit, asked the judge to respond to the allegations. The judge replied the same day and “specifically denied” 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.
The committee's review of logs and security footage showed an officer had frequently visited the judge's chambers in uniform around lunchtime. Six clerks recalled seeing someone who fit the officer's description, with three remembering overhearing what may have been sexual activity in the judge's 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't provide sufficient guidance and “rarely, if ever, substantively edited civil orders the clerks drafted.” While clerks described an “eggshell culture,” the committee didn't 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 “mixer” of former employees of a district attorney's office, where the judge used to work, but said it was in a separate room from the victory party.
The judge also agreed to write apology letters to six former law clerks, not to accept the position of chief judge of the district when eligible and to refrain from serving on any Judicial Conference committee.
FILE - The exterior of the U.S. Courthouse for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stands in Atlanta, July 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is testifying before House lawmakers investigating Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse cases, a long-awaited appearance that brings fresh scrutiny of the Trump administration's botched release of the Epstein case files.
Bondi was defiant in previous public testimony when she was confronted by lawmakers about the Epstein investigation. It's unclear whether she'll bring the same approach Friday, now that she is no longer in charge of the Justice Department. The session will be held behind closed doors.
The transcribed Bondi interview will give lawmakers a chance to dig for information on the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files and other related matters, including the prison sentence of Epstein's former girlfriend and confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I think she absolutely could clear up many missing pieces if she wanted to,” said Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “Now it’s a question of whether or not she is willing to be transparent.”
Epstein killed himself in a New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. Maxwell, a British socialite, was convicted in 2021 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein but has insisted she’s innocent, arguing she never should have been prosecuted. The Justice Department moved Maxwell from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas last August.
Lawmakers are trying to find out what decisions prosecutors have made about investigating Epstein associates, how the Justice Department handled the congressional mandate to release the Epstein case files and whether President Donald Trump was involved in the process.
Bondi, who revealed this week that she is being treated for thyroid cancer, has stayed within the Republican president's orbit even after being ousted from her job in early April.
Trump appointed Bondi to a White House panel on artificial intelligence this week, and she will be accompanied Friday by Justice Department officials, including Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the department's Civil Rights Division, acting as her counsel.
Democrats say that arrangement is a conflict of interest.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said the officials were there to help lawmakers understand the department's process for releasing the case files.
Bondi has been central to the political firestorm over Epstein, initially raising expectations for the full release of what's known as the Epstein files, only to later backtrack. That reversal prompted Congress to step in and pass a law requiring the release.
Bondi faced even more backlash when the Justice Department's release of the files was delayed and then included personal information of several potential victims. She has insisted in congressional hearings that she was trying to follow the law.
The House Oversight Committee, meanwhile, has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into Epstein that spans multiple presidential administrations.
Bondi was subpoenaed by the committee in March in a bipartisan vote, but she tried to head off that demand by holding a closed-door meeting with lawmakers that month. The maneuver only added to the enmity between Bondi and Democrats on the committee.
Bondi's departure from the Justice Department also raised doubts about the enforcement of the congressional subpoena. After the committee's Democrats maneuvered to press for a civil contempt of Congress resolution against Bondi, she agreed to sit for a transcribed interview rather than a sworn deposition.
Democrats on the Oversight panel have criticized that arrangement, saying that it allows Bondi to decline to answer questions. They have also pressed the Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, to record the interview on video.
“A failure to film and release a video of Ms. Bondi’s testimony would present a grave injustice to the American people and survivors of Epstein’s crimes,” the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, wrote to Comer.
Comer has said he is allowing Bondi to sit for a transcribed interview rather than a deposition as an incentive to cooperate. Previously, he had enforced a subpoena on former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after they resisted the demand. Both of their depositions were video-recorded.
Still, Comer said Bondi could face prosecution if she lies to Congress. He said the committee would also release a transcript of the interview.
“Hopefully that will be good enough,” he said.
Follow the AP's coverage of the Jeffrey Epstein case at https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives for her deposition at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Ceneta)
FILE - Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 11, 2026, in front of survivors of convicted sex offended Jeffrey Epstein. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner, File)
FILE - Attorney General Pam Bondi faces questions in the House Judiciary Committee over the Justice Department's handling of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
