Thread: Trump University Case: Who Is Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel?

Look, at the end of the day, Trump who tells us he is worth $10B is involved in a $5M lawsuit that should have no business in his campaign. He is wasting time and energy. He should not even be dealing with his business at this point in the campaign. His focus should be on the $50T economy he will eventually preside over should he win. I am so disgusted he has taken the bait and embroiled himself in this trivial matter. He is losing so much here by chasing pennies instead of dollars. This has now affected many GOP supporters who have outright separated themselves from this statement.

Enough Trump. Let it go. Let your lawyers try the case. Get back to the issues and build out your cabinet so we know you are for real. This is so bad for his focus and momentum. Let Ivanca take control of this and get back to the campaign.

What he's done is actually expose a terrible undercurrent of why we have open borders, illegal immigration, DACA, DAPA and massive excess legal immigration. These organizations like "La Raza Lawyers" which is a nationwide effort and the Hispanic National Bar Association also a national organization are like National Council of La Raza and part of the secret-force subterfuge working against US and US immigration law enforcement. When their people like the San Jose Mayor and San Jose Police Chief stand down and let their rioters attack Americans, I'm sorry, but this is an important issue that needs discussion, conversation and action to stop.

For the Republicans who in my opinion made terrible mistakes in their own judgment condemning Trump who was exposing the problem before they even listened to the entire interview, before they even spoke to him about it, before they even did their own research on the subject .... just shows how stupid, incompetent and irresponsible they are.

So what if Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and even Newt Gingrich want to condemn or distance from what they are told by media that Trump said? Are these our friends? No, they are not. They are amnesty supporters and pro-illegal immigration.

Every time Trump makes a controversial statement to expose a problem, everyone says "OH NO, NOT AGAIN", but remember my dear friends, Donald Trump isn't in this race for politics as usual, he is in this race for President to solve problems, and his lawsuit in California, the biggest hotbed of illegal immigration in the country, has exposed another element and cause of why we have this problem of illegal immigration. Now because he exposed the La Raza Lawyers thing that even we didn't know about, we find out that it's not just lawyers, it's police chiefs and judges and mayors and many many more, who secure positions of power and authority through the "ethnic" promotions of these organizations, all who hate Trump, simply because of his position against illegal immigration and his goal of building the wall, deporting illegal aliens and actually enforcing US immigration law to solve the problem.

When you secure positions of power and authority like this based on "ethnic" preference, you owe the organizations that helped fund and lobby your election, appointment or profession, a debt to support their cause which is ethnic-targeted illegal immigration.

Your point is well taken, but T was trying his trivial court case in public and it backfired badly.

I am surprised followers don't even see the parallels between this statement about the judges heritage and the statement made to Chris Matthews regarding abortion. The San Jose Mayor and Police Chief are not related to this. That is a separate issue and needs to be addressed by the AG (fat chance). Trump tried to try his case in the public and did not carefully weigh his words. He can't keep doing this every time he makes a mistake. He has undone some of the uniting that has taken place. He has drained valuable energy and time from his message. If this is how he is going to run the country, we are not going to accomplish much. You are putting way to much faith into his abilities as a politician. Politics is about building consensus, studying policies and positions and about selecting and allowing others to manage the complex structures of each section.

It is not unusual for a Polish, Italian, Irish, etc...to belong to a club with others from that heritage. If Trump feels that the judge is giving him a bad deal because of his positions on Mexicans or the border, there is a much smarter way to cry out loud. No one likes him more than I do, but blind supporters just tolerate and embellish every fault he has. He has learned nothing from his misstatement on abortion with Chris Matthews. That too wasted time and energy. The inside doings of his campaign are once again becoming undone. He used Manafort, like he has used so many others along the way and we will see how this shakes out. Others are not afraid to distance themselves from him or disavow his statements because Trump has behaved as a child.

This had its genesis when T thought he would be cute and not turn over his $1M pledge for veterans until he was called out (bad move). Remember actions speak louder than words.


This is big time now and many things in this country are wrong, but it is not about any of this. It was a trap and T took the bait, hook, line and sinker.

Well, I'm Pro-Choice, so Trump's "misstatements" on the abortion issue didn't bother me at all. This is one of the issues that I completely disagree with Trump on. I don't think the government should be involved in these personal decisions.

Trump wasn't trying the case in the public. The opposition and media were trying to do that. Negative ads all over the place about a private legal matter. Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton and SuperPac after SuperPac hitting Trump all day every day about the Trump U lawsuits. When he's punched, he's going to punch back and punch back hard so when he's in interviews and all they want to talk about is Trump U, then he's going to talk about it and rightly so. When he's asked why he thinks the Judge is biased, he has every right to answer the question as he sees it.

Eyes are now opened on Judge Curiel. Ears are pricked. More news will come out and someone somewhere will print or broadcast it.

And then like everything else, everyone will say "Wow, Trump was right."

You don't get it at all.

Trump was trying his case in public because he was losing and wanted to tie the decisions that have been made so far to the judges Mexican heritage and T's position on the wall.....blah, blah, blah.....enough. The abortion thing was the same, stupid! Not you, the subject. I don't care what your position is, when my candidate takes a "what if" and wants to send women to jail as punishment for having an abortion, he is thinking out loud and getting himself into trouble for no reason. Matthews gave him the bait and he took it. That is the parallel. The democrats just did it again with Trump U.

Trump stood to win nothing by pasting the Mexican heritage on the judge. He should be smart enough to let his lawyers do the dirty work. Why don't you pat the judge on the back for fighting the drug cartel years back. You totally miss it and when you allow the candidate to think he is right when he is wrong, he digs himself deeper into the ditch.

Your ok with me, and I like your commentary a lot, but I completely disagree with Trump on how he has handled a few things like this in particular. Wasting time, precious time not talking about what is important and disqualifying Hillary everyday.

I respect so many of your positions, but sometimes I think you don't tell the truth about Trump because you think you are turning against him or being disloyal. We are still going to vote for him even though there are times when he opens his mouth only to change feet......Trump promises not to talk about this anymore. Let's do the same.

We'll just have to disagree on this issue, joe s. But I think you'll find in the coming days that Trump was right about Curiel and had every right to say so when he was asked. It wasn't Trump spending the time on the issue, it was the media. But that's okay. Eyes are opened, ears are pricked so it's not over for Curiel.

As to the drug cartels someone is claiming Curiel went after? I wrote a piece on that already. He didn't arrest any drug cartel leader. He didn't prosecute any drug cartel leader. Those are the facts. The media is claiming he arrested and prosecuted the leader of the Tijuana Cartel, Arellano Felix, yet, that's not the case. Felix was arrested in Pueblo, Mexico by Mexican Authorities on information provided by the US DEA who tracked his sister which led to the tip to Mexican authorities who made the arrest in 2002. Felix was prosecuted in Mexico by Mexican authorities and sentenced to 22 years. Felix was years later extradited to the United States in 2011 and prosecuted here for crimes in the US and sentenced to 25 years after which he will be returned to Mexico and finish his Mexican sentence there. But, Curiel was no longer with the US Attorney's Office in 2011, he left that office in 2006.

So I'm not going to take anything away from what he did when he was in charge of the Narcotics Division of the US Attorney's Office, but he was not involved in the actual events that led to the arrest of this drug lord named Felix, that was a DEA agent, and he was not involved in the prosecution of this drug lord, because the drug lord was prosecuted in Mexico by Mexican authorities for his crimes there and prosecuted in the US more than 5 years AFTER Curiel had left the US attorney's office.

The Felix Tijuana Cartel was competing with the Sinaloa Cartel in Baja, California. When the Tijuana Cartel was weakened with the Mexican arrests, the Sinaloa Cartel took over. The Sinaloa Cartel is El Chapo's cartel.

But I will say this, any government official involved with trying to stop the drug cartels would support building a wall to restrict both the flow of drugs across the borders along with the illegal aliens carrying them and coming here to run the operation.

So it's not rocket science to see all the government officials involved with La Raza Lawyers boycotting Trump and other La Raza officials telling Trump to shove his wall up his ass.

You see the incongruity, right? It's inexplicable for someone who wants notoriety as a drug cartel fighter to belong to a Bar Association boycotting Trump products because he wants to build a wall and stop illegal immigration. Well, of course there is ONE explanation and that is they're all on the take with the cartels. Of course one might choose to work against one cartel to favor another which is what was happening between the Felix and Guzman cartels. Guzman's (El Chapo) Sinaloa Cartel took off like a rocket with the diminishing of the Tijuana Cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel became the largest strongest cartel at the time operating in the United States, operating out of Baja, California.

I don't trust most of these officials because the problem of illegal immigration and the drug cartel behind it grows every year no matter what they say they are doing to stop it. Fencing a child can climb over? Border cameras that don't work? Amnesty proposals in Congress year after year after year? DACA, DAPA, driver's licenses, in-state tuition, scholarships to college, EITC payments?

Why would someone claim Curiel arrested and prosecuted Felix when he did neither one? Because it sounds good when he's vying for a Judgeship appointment? Who knows. The fact is Curiel is a member of two organizations who hate Trump because he wants to build a wall, deport illegal aliens and enforce US immigration law, he's a member of La Raza Lawyers and he's a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association. These are not little culture groups that plan a St. Patty's Day Parade or sit around chugging beer and singing Irish songs until they decide to get up on a table and dance a jig or plan Greek Weddings and Festivals or whatever else the Scalia Italians do at their culture events. And maybe Scalia was involved in something more sinister that we don't know about, and maybe the Irish Pub groups were really IRA supporters. I don't know. But this I know, when these groups boycott a Presidential candidate, stand down with rioters attacking that candidates supporters, tell him to shove his wall up his ass, while handing out scholarships to illegal aliens and others based on their "heritage", they are not little "culture groups", these are dangerous subversive anti-American political action groups operating inside our country against our best interest and national security.

And this thing about the threat on the life of Curiel .... that's a "may have" according to the LA Times article written about it in 1997.

http://articles.latimes.com/1997/aug/28/news/mn-26601

Trump issues ultimate final statement on judge. For now.

Colin Campbell June 7, 2016


Donald Trump issued a lengthy statement on Tuesday insisting that his comments about a U.S. judge have been mischaracterized by his critics. The presumptive GOP nominee also said that he does not “intend to comment on this matter any further,” after discussing it at length in multiple interviews.

“It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage. I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent,” Trump began in the 700-word statement.

Trump sparked an intense backlash last week when he repeatedly argued that Judge Gonzalo Curiel, a U.S.-born jurist of Mexican heritage, should recuse himself from a case involving Trump University. Trump cited his plan to build a massive wall along the Mexican border and said the proposal presented a conflict of interest for Curiel.

“He’s a Mexican. We’re building a wall between here and Mexico,” Trump told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday.

Democrats and Republicans widely condemned Trump’s argument. A number of critics, including presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, directly called it “racist.”

“Claiming a person can’t do their job because of their race is sort of like a textbook definition of a racist comment,” Ryan, who recently endorsed Trump, said earlier in the day Tuesday.

But Trump said he was simply bringing up legitimate questions about Curiel’s possible bias as the judge oversees a case involving Trump’s defunct for-profit university. Various lawsuits against Trump University accuse the business of intentionally misleading students. Trump’s own lead lawyer praised an earlier ruling by Curiel in the case.

“Normally, legal issues in a civil case would be heard in a neutral environment,” Trump wrote in his statement. “However, given my unique circumstances as nominee of the Republican Party and the core issues of my campaign that focus on illegal immigration, jobs and unfair trade, I have concerns as to my ability to receive a fair trial.”

He later added: “While this lawsuit should have been dismissed, it is now scheduled for trial in November. I do not intend to comment on this matter any further. With all of the thousands of people who have given the courses such high marks and accolades, we will win this case!”

View Trump’s full statement below:

It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage. I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent. The American justice system relies on fair and impartial judges. All judges should be held to that standard. I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial.

Over the past few weeks, I have watched as the media has reported one inaccuracy after another concerning the ongoing litigation involving Trump University. There are several important facts the public should know and that the media has failed to report.

Throughout the litigation my attorneys have continually demonstrated that students who participated in Trump University were provided a substantive, valuable education based upon a curriculum developed by professors from Northwestern University, Columbia Business School, Stanford University and other respected institutions. And, the response from students was overwhelming. Over a five year period, more than 10,000 paying students filled out surveys giving the courses high marks and expressing their overwhelming satisfaction with Trump University’s programs.

For example:
Former student Tarla Makaeff, the original plaintiff in the litigation, not only completed multiple surveys rating Trump University’s three-day seminar “excellent” in every category, but also praised Trump University’s mentorship program in a glowing 5 plus minute video testimonial. When asked “how could Trump University help to meet [her] goals”, she simply stated “[c]ontinue to offer great classes.” Once the plaintiffs’ lawyers realized how disastrous a witness she was, they asked to have her removed from the case. Over my lawyers’ objections, the judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion, but allowed the case to continue.

Art Cohen, a lead plaintiffs in the litigation, completed a survey in which he not only rated Trump University’s three-day seminar “excellent” in virtually every category, but went so far as to indicate that he would “attend another Trump University seminar” and even “recommend Trump University seminars to a friend.” When asked how Trump University could improve the seminar, Mr. Cohen’s only suggestion was to “[h]ave lunch sandwiches brought in” and make the lunch break 45 minutes.

Former student Bob Giullo, who has been critical of Trump University in numerous interviews and negative advertisements from my political opponents, also expressed his satisfaction, rating Trump University’s programs “excellent” in every category. When asked how Trump University could improve its programs, Mr. Giullo simply asked that students be provided “more comfortable chairs.”

Indeed, these are just a few of literally thousands of positive surveys, all of which can be viewed online at www.98percentapproval.com.

For those students who decided that Trump University’s programs were not for them, the company had a generous refund policy, offering a full refund to any student who asked for their money back within 3 days of signing up for a program or by the end of the first day of any multi-day program, whichever came later.

Normally, legal issues in a civil case would be heard in a neutral environment. However, given my unique circumstances as nominee of the Republican Party and the core issues of my campaign that focus on illegal immigration, jobs and unfair trade, I have concerns as to my ability to receive a fair trial.

I am fighting hard to bring jobs back to the United States. Many companies – like Ford, General Motors, Nabisco, Carrier – are moving production to Mexico. Drugs and illegal immigrants are also pouring across our border. This is bad for all Americans, regardless of their heritage.

Due to what I believe are unfair and mistaken rulings in this case and the Judge’s reported associations with certain professional organizations, questions were raised regarding the Obama appointed Judge’s impartiality. It is a fair question. I hope it is not the case.

While this lawsuit should have been dismissed, it is now scheduled for trial in November. I do not intend to comment on this matter any further. With all of the thousands of people who have given the courses such high marks and accolades, we will win this case!

Donald J. Trump

Trump issues ultimate final statement on judge. For now.

"He's a member of a club or society very strongly pro-Mexican, which is all fine. But I say he's got bias," Trump said in the interview.

"This judge has treated me very unfairly. He's treated me in a hostile manner, and there's something going on," he added.

The words "La Raza" translate from Spanish to mean "the race," which Trump fans cite as proof the NCLR is a group of people who hate anyone who isn't Hispanic.

Lisa Navarrete, an NCLR spokeswoman, rejected that interpretation, saying that "thousands" of groups had names that included "La Raza" as a "nod to our common heritage."

But Curiel & his group are involved with this..

The fact is, Judge Curiel, who boasted about his Mexican heritage during his Senate confirmation hearings, and is a member of an activist lawyers group whose mission is to defend Mexican illegal aliens and work to keep them in America, while Donald Trump has spoken out against the invasion of our borders by Mexicans and those from Central America, establishes a bias for Mexicans who have invaded our borders by the judge and puts the judge at odds with Trump's position. This of course gives reasonable cause that the judge's feelings toward Mexicans who have invaded our borders may affect his decisions in Trump's case. To ignore this factor, as Megan Kelly does with absolutely impunity, is an indication of her own unwillingness to accept a reasonable belief.

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.”
—Arthur Schopenhauer

This was started by the Democrats and the Press. The last unfair decision by this Judge Curiel was made on the specific argument by the Washington Post that because Donald Trump is a candidate for President the "public had an interest in knowing how Trump ran his business" and despite arguments against the release of these sealed court documents by Trump lawyers, the Judge decided that the rights normally afforded to someone being sued DO NOT APPLY TO A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT.

To do a document dump like this for the Washington Post is without question an unfair ruling stinking to high heaven of bias. The problem with court document dumps like this is they aren't even evidence. The rules of evidence exclude all items not entered into evidence during a trial and subject to testimony, cross examination and rebuttal.

Surely Judge Curiel knows this. Surely the Washington Post knows this. Yet, for some bizarre reason, probably as Trumps says, Trump's positions on illegal immigration, deportation of illegal aliens and enforcing US immigration law resulted in yet another outrageous unheard of ruling by Judge Curiel because of Curiel's involvement in pro-Mexico, pro-illegal alien organizations and platforms.

When the media gangs up with biased judges because someone wants to defend our country, secure our borders, deport illegal aliens, build a wall and enforce US immigration law, we have a problem in this country much broader than Curiel's Mexican heritage. We have major foreign-driven ethnic-based corruption embedded in positions of power and authority financed by drug cartels, La Raza supporters, Amnesty Democrats, Mexico and other foreign interests and governments, and their lap dog media mules like the Washington Post, who all benefit from these tragic policies that are destroying our country and bankrupting our citizens.

Someone suggested the other day that Trump was trying this case in the media because he was losing, no he isn't losing, and no, Trump isn't the one wanting to try this case in the media, it's the media, a corrupt Judge and his La Raza friends and associates who want to try this case in the media. With a document dump like this, there is no way Trump and his companies can get a fair trial.

In fact after the document dump, the Judge issues a new order to try to get some of them back and they weren't even redacted for the protection of personal information.

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/whoo...ump-u-lawsuit/

These are the actions of a Judge with a "stellar record"? His own current actions prove he's biased, sloppy and has probably resulted in cause for mistrial.

One of the comments to the article agrees:

Avatar
Sailor Mike ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ • 4 days ago

Trump's lawyers may be able to get a mistrial as the judge is biased and incompetent as he released info that is prejudiced against defendant. So unfair while Hill's Foundation is untouched.

Makes one wonder why Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger would appoint a Democrat La Raza-backed lawyer to the Superior Court of San Diego County, traditionally a Republican stronghold, which led to his appointment by Obama as a Federal Judge for this district in California several years later. Then he gets assigned this case in 2014, 4 years into the case? Really?! Oh puleeze.

Why would Arnold make such an appointment to begin with? The housekeeper affair? Around the same time frame.

I knew this pending lawsuit was going to haunt Trump. This was actually one reason I had a hard time getting on board for Trump. The truth is I feel from all my research Trump should lose this case. I don't think that would have made much difference with his supporters.

Now Trump has everyone focusing on Judge Curiel and his Mexican heritage and La Raza instead of the actual facts of the case. That was probably his intent, but I question was it about being President or was it about winning the lawsuit. I question whether he can separate his personal business from the people's business. Whatever his reasoning I think he has hurt himself by taking this stance with Judge Curiel and I am more afraid for our country then ever.