Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended Donald Trump on Saturday, suggesting the presumptive Republican presidential nominee “has a right” to ensure the federal judge handling a civil fraud case against Trump University has behaved fairly.
“An independent judiciary is extremely important. But that value is not the only one in play here,” Gonzales, who served under George W. Bush, opined in the Washington Post. “Equally important, if not more important from my perspective as a former judge and U.S. attorney general, is a litigant’s right to a fair trial.”
Trump Saturday afternoon tweeted out a “thank you” to Gonzales.
Trump has called on U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel to recuse himself from a case involving the billionaire’s now-defunct online college, citing Curiel’s “Mexican” heritage as a “conflict of interest.”
“We’re building a wall. He’s a Mexican. The answer is he’s giving us unfair rulings. This judge is giving us unfair rulings,” Trump told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday.
Despite saying “ethnicity alone cannot pose a conflict of interest,” Gonzales claimed “there may be other factors to consider in determining whether Trump’s concerns about getting an impartial trial are reasonable.”
Gonzales noted that Curiel’s appointments to represent plaintiffs at a law firm that paid the Clintons to do speeches.
“These circumstances, while not necessarily conclusive, at least raise a legitimate question to be considered,” wrote Gonzales.
“If [Trump’s] criticism is solely based on Curiel’s race, that is something voters will take into account in deciding whether he is fit to be president,” Gonzalez wrote.
He added, “If, however, Trump is acting from a sincere motivation to protect his constitutional right to fair trial, his willingness to exercise his rights as an American citizen and raising the issue even in the face of severe criticism is surely also something for voters to consider.”
