Hearing in Trump's Georgia election appeal scheduled for December, after election

The Georgia Court of Appeals, in a ruling involving Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case, has scheduled oral arguments in Trump's appeal of the Fani Willis disqualification decision for Dec. 5 -- one month after the November presidential election.

The court had ordered a stay in the case pending the outcome of the appeal, which means the new hearing date pushes the case past the November election.

The appeal from Trump and his co-defendants seeks to overturn a lower court's ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case after she was found to have had a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who resigned as part of the judge's order.

Willis has asked the court to dismiss Trump's appeal on multiple grounds, including claiming there is a "lack of sufficient evidence" to support a reversal of the lower court's ruling.

Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Four defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.

The former president has denied all charges and has criticized the district attorney's investigation as being politically motivated.