The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case cleared the way Wednesday for Donald Trump and other defendants to appeal a ruling that allowed Fulton County Dist. Atty. Fani Willis will remain a member of the prosecution.

Supreme Court Justice Scott McAfee granted a request from attorneys seeking permission to ask the Georgia Court of Appeals to review the judge’s decision. It is up to the court of appeal to decide whether to hear it.

McAfee last week declined to disqualify Willis from the case or dismiss charges over her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The judge said Willis can remain in the most expansive of four criminal cases against the former president as long as Wade resigns, which Wade did Friday.

Judge dismisses some charges against Trump in Georgia 2020 election interference case

But the judge also reprimanded Willis for her colossal lapse in judgment and questioned Wades’ veracity and her testimony about the timing of their relationship. While the judge did not find the relationship created a conflict of interest that should keep Willis from the case, he said an appearance of “impropriety” had tainted the prosecution team.

Lawyers for Trump and the other defendants said in court filings Monday that Wade’s firing was not enough to rectify that. Defense attorneys say the failure to depose Willis could jeopardize any convictions and force a new trial if an appeals court later rules it was warranted.

Trump lawyer Steve Sadow called the judge’s decision to grant the appeal very important.

The defense is optimistic that the appeal’s review will result in the case being dismissed and the prosecutor being disqualified, Sadow said in an email.

The special prosecutor is resigning after Judge Fani Willis allowed him to continue handling Trump’s case in Georgia

Jeff DiSantis, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, noted in a text message that the case had not been put on hold, so he said the office will work to bring the case to trial as soon as possible to take. The district attorney’s office will only comment on the appeal in the lawsuits, he said.

Willis’ romantic relationship with Wade has roiled the case for weeks, overshadowing allegations accusing Trump and 18 others of illegally overturning his narrow 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden in a desperate bid to to remain in power.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. The presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election has characterized all criminal cases against him as an attempt to thwart his bid to win back the White House in November.

Fulton County grand jury indicts Trump, Giuliani and other associates in 2020 election investigation

Defense attorneys alleged that Willis paid Wade large amounts of money for his work and then unfairly benefited from the prosecution of the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for the vacations of both of them.

Willis and Wade acknowledged they had a romantic relationship but rejected the idea that Willis was unfairly benefiting from it, as lawyers for Trump and some of his co-defendants alleged. Willis and Wade insisted they only started dating after he became special prosecutor and the relationship ended in the summer of 2023. They both said Willis either paid for things himself or used cash to reimburse Wade for travel expenses.

Wade tendered his resignation in a letter to Willis on Friday, saying he was doing so in the interest of democracy, out of commitment to the American public and to move this case forward as quickly as possible.

I will always remember and remind everyone that you were brave enough to step forward and undertake the investigation and prosecution of allegations that the defendants in this case were involved in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia to make, Willis wrote in a letter announcing his resignation.

Alanna Durkin Richer and Sudhin Thanawala write for the Associated Press. Durkin Richer reported from Boston.