The Georgia Court of Appeals has disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from prosecuting the election racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants, throwing the high-profile case into uncertainty.

In a 2-1 decision issued Thursday, the appeals court ruled that Willis created an appearance of impropriety through her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired to help manage the case. The ruling overturns an earlier decision by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who had allowed Willis to remain on the case if Wade stepped aside.

'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,' wrote Judge Trenton Brown in the court's opinion.

The appeals court specifically criticized the trial court's attempted remedy, stating that removing Wade alone did not address the appearance of impropriety that existed when Willis was making critical decisions about prosecutions and charges. The ruling emphasized that Willis' judgment during the pretrial phase, including decisions about who to prosecute and what charges to bring, was compromised by the relationship.

The decision creates significant uncertainty for the prosecution of 15 remaining defendants who have not already entered guilty pleas. Trump's legal team, led by attorney Steven Sadow, has argued that the charges against the former president should be dismissed entirely.

This development marks a major setback for the prosecution of one of the most significant criminal cases related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.