Story highlights George Shepherd: Judge's ruling in Trump University case may have played key role in clearing way for Trump's election

Outcome might have been different if campaign's final weeks were focused on Trump, not Clinton's emails

George Shepherd is a professor at the Emory University School of Law. The views expressed are his own.

(CNN) During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump relentlessly attacked Gonzalo Curiel, the judge in a lawsuit charging that Trump University defrauded thousands of consumers. Trump complained that because Judge Curiel is "Mexican," he "is giving us very unfair rulings."

The first claim is indisputably false: Judge Curiel is a US citizen born in Indiana. But the second claim was also false. Indeed, one of Judge Curiel's rulings was probably crucial in helping Trump become president.

Months before Trump became the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee, Judge Curiel signaled that he would schedule the trial in the case during the summer or early fall of this year -- right in the midst of the presidential campaign. Among his reasons was the fact that the lawsuit had been filed in 2010, and after six years of pretrial litigation and discovery, the plaintiffs -- many of whom are elderly -- were entitled to have their claims tried in court.

George Shepherd

In mid-March, Trump's lawyers argued against a summer or fall trial date, in part because "[p]laintiffs' proposal also would require the Court to conduct a trial ... while Mr. Trump is running for President. Not only would such a trial impose an extreme hardship on defendants, it would also invite a 'media circus.'"

By early May, Trump had become the presumptive presidential nominee of his party.

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