ATLANTA — A Georgia appeals court ruled on Dec 19 that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must be disqualified from prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump and several of his allies for attempting to interfere in the 2020 election in the US state.

The ruling throws into doubt the future of the case, which includes Trump and 14 allies.

The appeals court in Atlanta, in a 2-1 ruling, found that a romantic relationship between Willis and a former top deputy, Nathan Wade, created "a significant appearance of impropriety."

"While we recognise that an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings," the court wrote in its opinion.

Willis' office said in a court filing that it intends to appeal the ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court.

A spokesperson for the office did not respond to a request for comment.

The case was one of four criminal prosecutions that Trump faced in the years since his 2020 presidential re-election loss.

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