The Miami-Dade state court judge overseeing the legal battle surrounding Miami Dade College’s land donation to President Donald Trump’s $950 million presidential library was disqualified from the case following an alleged display of bias to the case’s plaintiff.
An appellate panel found Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz showed bias to local Miami historian and activist Dr. Marvin Dunn by hugging him after a hearing in December, Law.com reported. Dunn sued Miami Dade College’s board of trustees last year after the board voted to donate a 2.6-acre parcel of land valued at $67 million to Trump’s planned presidential library.
Judge Ruiz lifted the temporary injunction blocking the college’s transfer of the land in December, and she dismissed Dunn’s lawsuit.
The college’s defense attorneys alleged the hug followed a December hearing during which Ruiz noted that Dunn took out a mortgage to fund his suit against the college and thanked him for pursuing the lawsuit, the outlet reported.
Following the conclusion of the heading, Juide Ruiz allegedly shook hands with attorneys from both sides of the case before she “briefly hugged” Dunn, according to court records reviewed by the outlet.
With the ruling from Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals, Judge Ruiz is disqualified from presiding over any further legal action concerning the college’s land donation.
In March, the Trump Library Foundation released a teaser video showing a colossal skyscraper on the planned site at 500-540 Biscayne Boulevard, emblazoned with the Trump name. The project, which includes two gold statues of Trump, could also include a hotel and other commercial uses. No residential component is planned.
“This landmark on the water in Miami, Florida, will stand as a lasting testament to an amazing man, an amazing developer, and the greatest President our Nation has ever known,” Eric Trump, the president’s son, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and trustee for the Trump Library Foundation, posted on X.
The $1 billion project has raised at least $63 million, including pledges of $22 million from Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, $16 million from Paramount and $15 million from ABC News.
Senate Democrats in March opened a probe into what happened to those donations after the fund that collected them was closed last year.
–– Kate Hinsche