Lawyers for former President Trump have filed the opening brief in their appeal of a court order in hopes of disqualifying District Attorney Fani Willis from the sweeping electioneering case against him in Georgia. 

“The brief persuasively argues that the trial court should have dismissed the case and disqualified DA Willis for her forensic misconduct and the appearance of impropriety between her and former Special Assistant DA Wade, who was her lover and taxpayer-funded financial benefactor,” Steve Sadow, lead attorney for Trump, said in a statement. 

“We are optimistic that the Court will favorably decide the appeal in our favor.”

The Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to hear arguments on Oct. 4 in the appeal by Trump and his co-defendants to have embattled Willis disqualified from the case due to an “improper” affair with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

FANI WILLIS’ EX-STAFFER TESTIFIES SHE WAS FIRED AFTER BLOWING WHISTLE ON DA’S SPENDING

“Should a prosecutor be disqualified for intentionally and repeatedly violating ethical and professional canons to prejudice defendants for personal or political gain? Yes,” the brief argues.  

“Is disqualification necessary when a prosecutor testifies falsely, conceals misconduct, and creates ‘an odor of mendacity’ that results in a ‘significant appearance of impropriety?’ Undoubtedly so. If this prosecutor deflects attention from her misconduct by claiming on national television that the defendants are dishonest racists for bringing the truthful accusations to light, could anyone have confidence in the impartiality of the prosecutor’s actions? Absolutely not,” it states.

The appeals court paused activity in the case against Trump, all but eliminating any opportunity for Willis to try the former president before the election in November. 

TRUMP’S APPEAL TO DISQUALIFY FANI WILLIS FROM GA CASE GETS OCTOBER HEARING DATE

Willis filed a motion to dismiss that appeal earlier this month, saying the lower court found there was no sufficient evidence to support their claims that Willis has a conflict of interest, and says that there is “no basis” to appeal Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s March ruling allowing Willis to stay on the case.

Trump’s lawyer called the motion a “last ditch effort to stop any appellate review of [her] misconduct.”

Trump was indicted in August along with 18 co-defendants out of the yearslong criminal investigation led by Willis and state prosecutors in Georgia into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

The charges include violating the Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act; solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree; conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit filing false documents; conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree; and filing false documents.

Since then, Willis has struggled to avoid roadblocks in her efforts to try Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, before the election.

McAfee in March dismissed six of the charges and said the state failed to allege sufficient detail for six counts of “solicitation of violation of oath by public officer.” 

District Attorney Fani Willis during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

In February, Michael Roman, a GOP operative and co-defendant in the case, dropped bombshell accusations that Willis had an “improper” affair with Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute the case in November 2021. 

Other co-defendants made similar allegations, and said she financially benefited from her relationship with him by taking lavish vacations together. 

Both Wade and Willis denied they were in a romantic relationship prior to his hiring and said the couple would split the costs of their shared travels; Willis said she reimbursed Wade for her share of the trips in cash.

After evidentiary hearings held in February, Judge McAfee ordered that Wade had to be removed in order to keep Willis from disqualification in the Trump election interference case.

“[T]he established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team – an appearance that must be removed through the State’s selection of one of two options,” he wrote, adding that Willis and her whole office can choose to step aside, or Wade can withdraw from the case.

Wade subsequently resigned from his post as special prosecutor.

In his March order, McAfee said while Willis’ “reimbursement practice” was “unusual and the lack of any documentary corroboration understandably concerning,” he ultimately decided that the defendants did not present “sufficient evidence” that expenses weren’t “roughly divided evenly.” 

He also said “the evidence demonstrated that the financial gain flowing from her relationship with Wade was not a motivating factor on the part of the District Attorney to indict and prosecute this case.”

“[T]he Court finds that the record made at the evidentiary hearing established that the District Attorney’s prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety,” McAfee wrote in his order.

GEORGIA PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS APPEALS AFTER JUDGE DROPS MULTIPLE TRUMP CHARGES

Nathan Wade arrives before Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks after winning the Democratic primary on May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Georgia. (AP)

“As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed.”

“Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist,” he said.

When the defense in March submitted a joint motion for a Certificate of Immediate Review, McAfee said his Order on the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss and Disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney issued March 15 “is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had” and allowed the defendants to ask the Georgia appeals court for an opportunity to appeal, which the court granted last month.

Health officials in the Biden administration urged an international transgender health nonprofit to omit the age limit in its guidelines for transgender surgical procedures for adolescents – and succeeded – according to recently unsealed court documents.

The documents, first reported on by The New York Times, revealed that staff for Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, pushed the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to drop the age minimum requirement altogether to avoid seeing conservative lawmakers work to put such age restrictions into law.

The 2021 draft guidelines suggested 17 for genital surgeries or hysterectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgeries, 15 for mastectomies and 14 for hormonal treatments. However, the finalized WPATH 2022 guidelines did not include any age limit, the Times reported.

After publication, the White House told Fox: “The Administration does not support surgery for minors.”

BIDEN SLAMMED ON SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER ANNOUNCING TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY ON EASTER SUNDAY

Excerpts of emails within WPATH’s advisory group were included in legal filings for a federal lawsuit challenging Alabama’s ban on transgender surgeries for minors, as released by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. The lawsuit was filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of five transgender children and their families, the Times reported.

One email from a member of the WPATH guideline development group described a conversation with Sarah Boateng, then-Levine’s chief of staff. According to the email, Boateng was confident that specifying ages under 18 could lead to “devastating legislation for trans care.” 

“She wonders if the specific ages can be taken out,” the excerpt read.

TRANSGENDER ATHLETE COMPLAINS ABOUT LACK OF SPORTSMANSHIP FROM FELLOW RUNNERS AFTER WINNING GIRLS STATE TITLE

Transgender treatments for minors have become a major culture war in the U.S. (ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)

Levine “was very concerned that having ages (mainly for surgery) will affect access to care for trans youth and maybe adults, too,” another email read. 

“Apparently the situation in the U.S.A. is terrible and she and the Biden administration worried that having ages in the document will make matters worse. She asked us to remove them.”

James Cantor, a psychologist and critic of adolescent transgender procedures, filed the excerpts from the emails as evidence in support of Alabama’s federal lawsuit, the Times reported. No emails from Levine’s office specifically were released.

These emails, part of his report, suggest that WPATH made decisions influenced by politics rather than science in developing its transgender guidelines.

The Times reported that the plaintiffs in the case are attempting to prevent Cantor from testifying. 

WOMEN UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S TITLE IX CHANGES FACE THE ‘EVISCERATION OF LEGAL WOMANHOOD,’ EXPERTS SAY

Protesters of Kentucky Senate Bill SB150, known as the Transgender Health Bill, cheer on speakers during a rally on the lawn of the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, on March 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Transgender procedures and treatments for children have become a hot button issue in the country’s culture war. More than a dozen states in the U.S. have enacted bans on surgical procedures and hormonal prescriptions for transgender youth. 

Idaho, North Dakota, Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama have passed laws making it a felony to perform sex changes on children. Several blue states, meanwhile, have enacted “sanctuary state” laws in recent years shielding medical providers from facing penalties for conducting transgender procedures on adolescents. 

A missing North Carolina girl’s mother is now a suspect in her November 2022 disappearance, police said Tuesday. 

Madalina Cojocari, 11 at the time, was last seen getting off a school bus at 4:59 p.m. on Nov. 21, 2022. 

“(Madalina’s) mother, Diana Cojocari, is considered a suspect in her disappearance,” Cornelius Police said in a statement on Facebook. “We want to #FindMadalina. This has been our priority since we learned she was missing.”

Cojocari pleaded guilty in May to a criminal charge of failing to report a missing child. She did not tell law enforcement Madalina was missing until Dec. 15, 2022 and admitted to police she had not seen her daughter since Nov. 23, 2022. 

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER MADALINA COJOCARI’S MOM’S GUILTY PLEA?

Law enforcement has not released details about why they believe Cojocari is now a suspect, but no arrests have been made nor charges filed.

Lawyer Timothy Cannady, who is not involved in the case, speculated in an interview with WCNC Charlotte about potential new developments that led police to officially name Cojocari a suspect. 

MISSING FOR ONE YEAR: ‘NOT GOING TO STOP UNTIL WE FIND HER’

“There’s probably some level of new evidence that they’ve got,” Cannady said. That new evidence could be “something that points to not just her failure to report her daughter missing but that she actually played an active role in her daughter going missing.”

“If they’re (Cojacari’s parents) charged with, say, murder, or some kind of homicide offense or some kind of kidnapping offense, they could be essentially tried twice or charged for the different things,” he told the local news outlet. 

In December, authorities arrested and charged the 11-year-old’s parents, Diana Cojocari and Christopher Palmiter, with failure to report a missing child to law enforcement after Madalina’s disappearance from her hometown in Cornelius, North Carolina, just north of Charlotte, around Nov. 23, 2022. (Mecklenburg County Detention Center)

Cojocari and her husband, Christopher Palmiter, who is Madalina’s stepfather, did not report Madalina missing to police until Dec. 15, 2022, weeks after she was last seen. 

They even admitted to police the last time they saw Madalina was at home the evening of Nov. 23, 2022.

MISSING NORTH CAROLINA GIRL’S MOTHER WANTED TO SMUGGLE 11-YEAR-OLD FROM HOME: WARRANT

Leads have taken authorities from the Charlotte area to the mountains of western North Carolina, but there have been no signs of the missing girl for nearly two years.

Now, Cornelius police are looking in their own backyard at the woman who was supposed to care for her daughter. 

WATCH: INTERVIEW WITH CORNELIUS POLICE CHIEF

Police urged the public to continue to share Madalina’s picture on social media and call in tips to detectives at 704-892-7773.

Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.