BBC News:
Donald Trump’s attorneys pushed two legal challenges before Easter weekend.
His camp is appealing against a verdict from a Georgia judge allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on an election subversion case.
They also aim to stop the expansion of a gag order, limiting Mr Trump’s speech, in a New York hush money case.
The Republican presidential nominee faces four legal cases, and these two are the most likely to be heard in court before the US elections.
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty in all the cases, and claimed he is being politically persecuted.
Mr Trump and his co-defendants in the Georgia case, which accuses them of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, have alleged that Ms Willis financially benefitted from an improper romantic relationship with Nathan Wade – a prosecutor she hired to lead the case.
Judge Scott McAfee – who is overseeing the case – held two weeks of chaotic hearings that included fiery testimony from Ms Willis. She admitted to the relationship but denied benefitting from it financially.
In the end, the judge sided with Ms Willis, though he said the relationship had the “appearance of impropriety” and demanded Mr Wade or Ms Willis step down. Mr Wade did so within hours.
In a 51-page motion filed on Friday before the Georgia Court of Appeals, Mr Trump and eight of his co-defendants argued Ms Willis should also be removed – which would greatly delay the case or could lead to it being dismissed.
Mr Trump and other co-defendants’ lawyers said Mr Wade’s resignation did not sufficiently address the “appearance of impropriety” that “cast a pall over these entire proceedings”.
