Trump’s Campaign Statements Will Follow Him Into Court

Statements made by President-Elect Donald Trump during his campaign will not be broadly swept from ongoing litigation over Trump University, after a decision made this week by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel. Trump’s lawyers asked that statements by and about Trump during the presidential campaign be barred from the lawsuit, a highly unusual petition that would apply to Trump’s tweets, videos of him describing sexual assaults on women, his tax history, and revelations about his private charitable foundation. It would also include the public criticism of Curiel, the Indiana-born jurist Trump accused of being biased based because of his Mexican heritage. Curiel said the request was too broad, and that he would consider specific objections at trial. Trump’s lawyers asked that the statements be excluded because they risk “immediate and irreparable danger of extreme and irremediable prejudice to defendants, confusion of issues and waste of time.” The lawsuit was brought by former students of Trump University, who allege the school failed on its promise to teach how to succeed in real estate, and knowingly exploited students who were urged to sign up for classes and seminars they could not afford.