[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8363-8364]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, it is utterly disappointing that Donald 
J. Trump chose to use the court of public opinion in his attempt to 
defend against a civil fraud claim involving Trump University.
  Last week, Donald Trump made disparaging statements about the trial 
judge. He suggested that the trial judge is incapable of objectively 
judging the case because of his Mexican heritage. He went on to say 
that the judge was a hater of Donald Trump's. The footage is being 
played over and over on television, and many of my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle, to their credit, have found these statements to be 
unacceptable.
  In my humble opinion, Mr. Speaker, these statements rise to the level 
of contempt of court. They are racially based, and the litigant should 
be sanctioned. The Trump statements are perceived by millions of people 
to be race based and a discredit to the judiciary. It must be 
addressed.
  Based on my years as a lawyer and as a judge, it is clear that, if a 
litigant feels that the judge cannot be fair and impartial in a case, 
the litigant has a duty to inform his counsel. Counsel then has an 
obligation to file motions of recusal that set out, with particularity, 
the grounds for the motion. This was not done, and I suspect it was not 
done because no evidence of bias even exists. If the attorneys chose to 
make such a reckless claim, the attorneys would be subject to 
discipline.
  What would motivate a litigant in a class action civil fraud case to 
announce to millions of people that the judge is incapable of 
objectively judging his case because of his Mexican heritage?
  It is bizarre. It is suspicious behavior.
  One explanation is that the litigant, unable to convince his attorney 
to address these issues in court, wants to intimidate the judge and 
eventually force the judge off the case, which would slow the 
administration of justice and would postpone the trial for months, even 
years. The court system, Mr. Speaker, does not work that way.
  These statements have put the attorneys in an ethical dilemma of 
whether they should repudiate the statement or not. Codes of 
Professional Conduct require an attorney to address client misconduct, 
to address it with the bar, to address it with the court, and to seek 
guidance on further representation.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an egregious violation of litigant misconduct. 
The court and the attorneys bear responsibility for protecting the 
integrity of the judiciary and the judicial system. Donald Trump's 
lawyers must avow or disavow their client's misconduct. The integrity 
of an independent judiciary is

[[Page 8364]]

clearly impacted by these inappropriate statements.


                  Release Wildin Acosta from Detention

  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Riverside High School in 
Durham, North Carolina, held its graduation ceremony. Among the pomp 
and circumstance, one student who should have graduated with his class 
was, sadly, absent.
  Wildin Acosta is a Honduran national who fled his country after the 
violence and threats to his life became so great that he risked 
everything to embark on a harrowing 17-day journey to the United 
States, all at the tender age of 17. He was classified as an 
Unaccompanied Minor and was eventually reunited with his parents in 
Durham, where he planted deep roots in the community and thrived at 
Riverside High School.
  Instead of graduating yesterday with his classmates, he sits in an 
ICE detention facility in Georgia after being arrested by ICE agents 
while he was on his way to school. Led by his classmates, the Durham 
community has been unanimous in calling for the end of recent ICE raids 
that have spread fear throughout our community and schools.
  Mr. Speaker, I, too, stand in support of Wildin, and I continue to 
fight for his release. I encourage my colleagues to fight with me and 
to implore the ICE Director and the Department of Homeland Security 
Secretary to use their discretion to release Wildin and others like him 
from detention.




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