SAN DIEGO _ A federal judge in San Diego has decided he will not allow the release of videotaped depositions of Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, testimony that was taken for a class-action lawsuit against the defunct Trump University real estate program.
U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel also rejected a bid by Trump's lawyers to get the lawsuit dismissed _ a ruling that clears the way for a trial that could be costly for the candidate.
Media organizations including The San Diego Union-Tribune had sought release of two videotaped depositions of Trump, taken in December and January. Transcripts of the sessions have been released, but Trump's lawyers fought the effort to make the videos themselves public.
Curiel said there is legitimate public interest in having the videos released. But he sided with Trump's lawyers, who had said releasing the videos would generate so much publicity it would bias potential jurors.
The judge wrote there was "every reason to believe the release of the deposition videos would contribute to an 'ongoing' media frenzy that would increase the difficulty of seating an impartial jury."
Full deposition transcripts provide the public with an ample amount of information about what Trump said under oath, Curiel ruled.
Among other things, the transcripts show that Trump was not able to identify instructors who taught the seminars. One of the central fraud claims in the suits _ he is facing two separate class actions over the business _ is that customers were duped by claims that Trump "hand-picked" instructors for the seminars.
Trump has argued the lawsuits are baseless, and that most customers who signed up _ with prices ranging from about $2,000 to as much as $35,000 for extended programs _ were satisfied. His lawyers contend the claims of hand-picked instructors and gleaning the "secrets" of Trump's real estate empire were nothing more than common sales "puffery."
Curiel, in denying the motion to dismiss the case, said that was a question for the jury to decide, and that the plaintiffs had presented enough evidence at this point to get the claim to trial.
The lawsuit filed in 2013 is a civil racketeering or RICO claim, alleging mail and wire fraud in promoting and selling Trump University. Trump's lawyers argued the case would expand the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act too far, but Curiel also turned aside that claim.
Under the civil RICO law, a winning side can recover three times the amount of monetary damages _ a potentially huge bill Trump would have to pay if he loses, because the class action covers thousands of Trump University customers in all 50 states.
Trial on one of the cases _ which covers customers in California, Texas and Florida only _ is set to begin in November.
Curiel's rulings are sure to draw scrutiny. Trump in May had blasted the judge for how he has handled the case, saying in an appearance in San Diego he was a "Mexican" and Trump's campaign promise to build a wall on the southwest border and deport millions of illegal immigrants biased the judge against him.
Curiel was born in Indiana to parents who came to the U.S. from Mexico. Trump supporters have also pointed to his membership in La Raza Lawyers of San Diego, a San Diego Hispanic legal organization, that they say is connected to the National Council of La Raza, a more liberal political group. The San Diego group has said the two organizations are separate entities with little common work.
