The federal judge at the center of a recent Donald Trump tirade was born and raised in Northwest Indiana, graduating from Hammond’s Bishop Noll Institute in 1971.
Last week, Trump aimed a racially tinged critique of U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel during a campaign rally in San Diego. Curiel is overseeing a civil fraud lawsuit in San Diego that alleges now-defunct Trump University’s real estate school was a sham.
Trump said he believed Curiel should have dismissed the fraud lawsuit. “Everybody says it, but I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He’s a hater. His name is Gonzalo Curiel.”
Curiel is no stranger to high-profile cases or bashing. As an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego, Calif., he prosecuted the long-entrenched and notorious Tijuana-based Arellano Felix drug cartel in the late 1990s. Its members allegedly made death threats against Curiel, who relocated after the trial under federal protection, according to a family member. The drug cartel’s prosecution inspired the Steven Soderbergh film “Traffic.”
Last week, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee attacked Curiel, saying he was “very hostile” to him and telling the audience at his rally he believes the East Chicago-born Curiel is Mexican. Curiel’s parents were Mexican immigrants who settled in East Chicago.
“The judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great, I think that’s fine,” Trump said. “You know what? I think the Mexicans are going to end up loving Donald Trump when I give all these jobs, OK?”
Trump never explained why he brought up Curiel’s heritage, although his audience booed when Trump said President Obama appointed Curiel to the federal bench in 2011.
Last week, Curiel granted a request from the Washington Post for public release of nearly 400 pages of Trump University documents called “playbooks” that served as marketing guidelines for selling real estate and investment courses to students, often with an emphasis on the “Gold” level courses that cost nearly $35,000.
Trump’s lawyers fought to keep the playbooks private.
Curiel has postponed the fraud trial until late November because he was concerned about the potential for a “media frenzy” if it took place during the presidential campaign.
Former students say they spent as much as $35,000 apiece to take Trump University real estate classes that proved worthless. Trump denies the allegation, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I’m getting railroaded by the legal system,” Trump said. “Frankly, they should be ashamed.”
Raul Curiel, of Hammond, defended his brother, calling him a man of integrity and objectivity. He said he hasn’t spoken with his brother since the Trump remarks began grabbing headlines.
“He’d just laugh it off; he’s above that,” Curiel said of his brother. Raul Curiel said Trump often gets his facts wrong.
“He doesn’t know what he’s saying. He’s pretty much incompetent. He’s speaking things that are not true.”
Raul, Antonio, Gonzalo and Maria Curiel-Rybicki grew up in East Chicago, where their father was a steelworker. They all graduated from Bishop Noll.
Gonzalo played guitar and keyboard in a band called “The Enchanters” that entertained across Northwest Indiana.
Raul said Gonzalo planned to study music at Indiana University, but changed his mind after older brother Antonio graduated from IU’s law school. Antonio Curiel died in 1996 after a stroke.
Carolyn Curiel, a former ambassador to Belize and cousin to Gonzalo, said she’s meeting with him this week. She’s now executive director of the Purdue Institute for Civic Communication in West Lafayette.
“I think that it’s unseemly from a presidential candidate,” she said of Trump’s remarks. “I’m not sure I want to say much more than that.” Carolyn Curiel said she avoids politics these days as the top official at the nonpartisan Purdue institute, where Gonzalo has spoken.
Curiel said she grew up in East Chicago with Gonzalo and his siblings and they often celebrated Thanksgiving at each other’s homes. Their parents all grew up in Mascota, Mexico.
She described her cousin as a man of integrity. “He is a professional person foremost. He’s dedicated to public service and he’s very grounded in family and faith.”
Curiel graduated from law school at IU in 1976, then clerked for Lake Superior Court Judge James Richards in Hammond. From 1979 to 1986, he worked for James, James & Manning, a Dyer law firm.
Curiel moved to California in 1986 to join a new law firm. He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego in 1989. He became a judge in the Superior Court of California in San Diego in 2006 until Obama named him to the federal bench in 2011.
ccarlson@post-trib.com
Twitter @ccwriterPT
