Judge allows Trump to appeal Fani Willis ruling

A judge has allowed Donald Trump and his co-defendants to appeal his ruling that Fani Willis remain the Georgia election subversion case prosecutor.

Judge Scott McAfee found Ms Willis could stay on as long as a prosecutor she had a romantic relationship with resigned from the case.

Mr McAfee said the case against Mr Trump and his co-defendants will continue while they appeal.

Mr Trump and others are charged with plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

The case in Georgia was nearly upended after one of the co-defendants, Michael Roman, claimed that Ms Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, was improperly benefitting from a romantic relationship with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Several of Mr Roman's co-defendants, including Mr Trump, had joined the motion to see Ms Willis disqualified and the charges dismissed.

Over a series of chaotic days in court, Ms Willis admitted to the relationship with Mr Wade but denied that she had benefitted financially.

Mr McAfee wrote in his ruling last week that Ms Willis had a "serious lapse in judgment" and that the relationship tainted the case with the "appearance of impropriety".

He left the prosecution with a choice in the ruling: either Mr Wade could resign his post or Ms Willis and her office would be removed from the case.

Mr Wade resigned within hours of that decision.

On Wednesday, however, the judge approved the defence's motion to appeal his ruling. He said the allegations about Ms Willis are of "such importance to the case that immediate review should be had".

Judge McAfee noted, however, that the court will continue with the case while Mr Trump and his co-defendants work out their appeal.

The initial decision had not pleased Mr Trump's lawyers, who argued that "the court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade".

After Mr McAfee's ruling on Wednesday, they said they intend to take the ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals.

The Georgia election interference case is one of four criminal cases Mr Trump faces, that both sides of the political aisle are watching closely ahead of November's presidential election.