Trump election interference case picks back up after Fani Willis disqualification bid

The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case has scheduled a Thursday hearing to hear oral arguments on a number of motions from Trump and his co-defendant David Shafer.

The hearing will be the first since the failed disqualification effort against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the case.

It comes after Judge Scott McAfee granted Trump permission to appeal his disqualification ruling -- but vowed to move the case forward in the meantime.

McAfee earlier this month declined to outright disqualify Willis based on accusations that she benefited financially from a romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade, but ruled that either she or Wade must step aside from the case. Wade subsequently resigned as special prosecutor.

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.

Defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Scott Hall subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.

The former president has blasted the district attorney's investigation as being politically motivated.