..A
spokeswoman for Donald Trump on Monday continued a line of criticism
launched by Trump about a California judge who is overseeing a fraud
case against him. She also suggested that the judge's Hispanic heritage
and membership in a Latino lawyers association would affect his ability
to judge the case.
The criticism comes days after Trump himself said at a rally
that U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel "happens to be, we
believe, Mexican," criticizing him for scheduling a trial for the suit
against Trump University in November.
Appearing
on CNN's "New Day," spokeswoman Katrina Pierson criticized Curiel for
being a member of the La Raza Lawyer's Association, which is a leading
Latino lawyers group in California. Curiel is a member of the
organization's San Diego chapter.
"I
think what's really interesting about this particular judge -- as Mr.
Trump refers to him as a 'Trump hater' -- is he even mentions on his
judicial questionnaire that he was a La Raza Lawyers Association
member," Pierson said, apparently referring to the questionnaire Curiel
filled out when his confirmation was being considered by the Senate.
"This is an organization that has been out there organizing anti-Trump
protesters with the Mexican flags -- they are pushing it. The signs have
been very apparent. And so Mr. Trump is just stating the obvious."
CNN
has reached out to the La Raza Lawyers Association's national office
and the San Diego chapter, but calls were not immediately returned.
"New
Day" host Alisyn Camerota replied that Curiel, contrary to Trump's
assertion, is U.S.-born and pushed back on making an issue of his
ethnicity. "Why's (Trump) saying he's Mexican? What's the point?"
After
arguing that Trump had only said that "we believe" Curiel is Mexican,
Pierson continued to try to link the judge to anti-Trump protesters.
"Well,
it's because of what we see outside of these rallies, these anti-Trump
rallies, these criminal rallies, these criminal protesters out there
defacing property and attacking police officers. They're doing so under
the guise of an anti-Trump protest, with their Mexican flags, and La
Raza and this judge is connected to that," Pierson said.
Efforts to reach Curiel on Monday were not immediately successful.
Trump ripped Curiel on Friday
after the judge ruled parts of internal documents, including
"playbooks" regarding running the enterprise, should be released as part
of a lawsuit against Trump University, which operated from 2005 to
2010.
The playbooks, which include
ones from 2009 and 2010, detail how the venture worked, how Trump
University events were run and how to sell programs to customers. Curiel
wrote that there is public interest in the case as Trump has become
"the front-runner in the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential
race, and has placed the integrity of these court proceedings at issue."
Trump
on Friday argued there was no need to schedule a trial for the Trump
University fraud suit, while noting Curiel's heritage.
"The
trial is going to take place sometime in November. There should be no
trial. This should have been dismissed on summary judgment easily,
everybody says it. But I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a
hater. He's a hater," Trump said.
Trump added, "The judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine."
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