A judge ruled Wednesday that Donald Trump and eight other defendants in the Georgia election fraud case can proceed with an emergency appeal of his decision last week allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the prosecution despite her affair with the special prosecutor she hired to oversee it.
Defense lawyers for Trump and the others filed the emergency appeal Monday, notifying Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee that his March 15 decision "is of such importance to the case that immediate review" should be conducted. Such a request under Georgia law requires the judge's approval, and McAfee granted it Wednesday without significant comment.
In their request asking McAfee to grant a certificate of immediate review, the lawyers said his decision didn't go far enough. They not only want Willis and her entire office thrown off the case, but the charges dismissed altogether, as some of them petitioned in their initial court motions back in January.
McAfee's approval means that Trump and the others can now formally appeal his ruling to the Georgia state Court of Appeals, which must agree to hear the case in order for the appeal to go forward.