Trump wants to appeal the ruling that allows the prosecutor to keep the Georgia case

Lawyers for Donald J. Trump and seven of his co-defendants in Georgia told a judge Monday they plan to appeal his ruling, allowing Fani T. Willis to continue pursuing the election interference case against them.

Because the defendants now want to appeal ahead of a possible trial, Georgia law requires them to obtain permission from the presiding judge, Scott McAfee of the Fulton Superior Court. Even if Judge McAfee were to grant an appeal, the Georgia Court of Appeals would have to agree to hear the case.

The judge’s ruling last Friday followed weeks of public hearings that delved into a romantic relationship between Ms. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, and Nathan J. Wade, the lawyer she hired to lead the Trump case . The defendants had argued that the relationship created an intolerable conflict of interest for Ms. Willis.

Judge McAfee disagreed, but ruled there was “a significant appearance of impropriety” that could be addressed if Mr. Wade withdrew from the case.

In their filing on Monday, the defendants said Mr. Wade’s dismissal was “insufficient to remove the appearance of impropriety found by the court.” If an appeal is not allowed now, they wrote, any convictions could be retried if the judge’s decision is later overturned.

“The court’s order is ripe for pretrial review,” Steven H. Sadow, Mr. Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, said in a statement.

Ms. Willis’ office had no immediate comment. Neither she nor Mr. Wade have spoken publicly since the ruling, apart from releasing his resignation letter and her response to it. This weekend, the NBC show “Meet the Press” announced that Mr. Wade had agreed to an interview on the Sunday morning program. But hours later it said Mr. Wade had done so withdrawn.

The defendants’ motion on Monday also noted a speech Ms. Willis gave at an Atlanta church on Jan. 14 in which she suggested that criticism of her and Mr. Wade was motivated by racism. Mr Sadow had argued that the speech itself was grounds for disqualifying Ms Willis.

Judge McAfee said in his ruling last Friday that the speech was “legally improper,” but also that there was not enough legal precedent in Georgia to guide him on whether to disqualify Ms. Willis from it.

In seeking leave from the judge to appeal, the defendants argued that this lack of precedent was another reason for the appeals court to intervene.

Mr. Trump and 14 others are charged with racketeering and a number of other crimes related to allegations that they conspired to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss in the state. Four other suspects have already pleaded guilty.

Shortly after the charges last summer, Ms Willis requested a trial to begin in August this year. But it is unlikely that this will happen so quickly.