Trump intends to appeal ruling denying his efforts to remove Fulton County DA from election probe

Former President Donald Trump's legal team has signaled their intent to appeal a judge's order denying their efforts to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis removed from her probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Trump's attorneys on Friday filed a notice of appeal, signaling their intent to appeal the ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court.

The notice comes in response to Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney's ruling last week denying Trump's motion to remove Willis from the investigation and quash the special grand jury report that gathered evidence in the probe.

On Thursday night, Trump team voluntarily asked for the dismissal of a separate motion they had filed, which had also sought to have Willis removed from the probe.

That motion, originally filed earlier this month, was scheduled to be heard before a judge on Aug. 10.

However, Trump's attorneys made clear in the Thursday's filing that they intended to continue their effort to seek relief elsewhere -- which they did on Friday with their notice of appeal.

Willis officially launched her probe in February 2021, sparked in part by the now-infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes," the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.

Trump has publicly denounced the investigation and has denied all wrongdoing, including in his phone call to Raffensperger.

Last week Willis signaled that an indictment of the former president could be imminent, saying that her "work is accomplished."

"We've been working for two and a half years -- we're ready to go," Willis said.