A federal judge who has been a target of Donald Trump’s repeated scorn on Tuesday denied a media request to release of videos of the Republican presidential candidate testifying in a lawsuit about the now-defunct Trump University – images that Trump’s attorneys had argued would have been used to tarnish the campaign.
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Trump had earlier courted controversy when, in of his campaign rallies, Trump had stated that Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s “hispanic” descent may have a bearing on the case due to his hard stand on illegal Mexican immigrants.
Video footage of Trump being deposed in December and January is said to exist, but Judge Curiel has refused to have it released on the grounds that a transcript of the depositions provides a “substantially accurate” understanding of the proceedings and that releasing the tapes could contribute to a “media frenzy”. Transcripts of the sessions have been released, but Trump’s lawyers fought the effort to make the videos themselves public.
Two class-action lawsuits being overseen by Curiel in San Diego and one lawsuit in NY allege that Trump University, which wasn’t accredited as a school, gave seminars and classes across the country that were like infomercials, constantly pressuring students to spend up to $35,000 for mentorships and, in the end, failing on its promise to teach success in real estate.
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Lawyers representing Trump University’s former customers say the videos present “a more complete picture” than the transcripts. Curiel also denied his motion for summary judgment in Cohen v. Trump, a civil RICO case that places Trump at the center of an alleged racketeering scheme through Trump University.
The judge has already set one case for trial in November.
Trump has been firm that he won’t settle this litigation, which means it will linger through his election bid.
News organisations have also taken an interest, seeking to have a videotaped deposition of Mr Trump released.
The New York Times asks whether Trump’s level of involvement, or lack thereof, was “false or misleading” to students who paid significant amounts of money for what they believed was a real estate business education specially designed by Donald J. Trump.
At one point, Mr Trump publicly denounced the rulings of Judge Curiel, who was born in IN, and questioned whether he would be biased because of his Mexican heritage.
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Those comments drew criticism from Republican leaders, and Trump promised in June to stop talking about the case. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form.
