By Andrew Goudsward
(Reuters) – Georgia’s appeals court has agreed to hear former U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to disqualify the district attorney prosecuting him over his attempts to undue his defeat in the 2020 election, according to a court order on Tuesday.
The ruling prolongs the legal battle over a former romance between Fani Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, and a one-time top deputy, a relationship defense lawyers have used to try to derail the case.
Trump and eight of his co-defendants charged in the Georgia state court have urged the appeals court to overturn a judge’s March ruling that allowed Willis to continue supervising the prosecution.
The court’s decision to hear the appeal before trial could cause further delays in the case, one of four criminal prosecutions facing Trump as he seeks to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of a politically motivated effort to damage his campaign.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone, Lisa Shumaker and Susan Heavey)