This article contends that part of why Trump is going so nuts is because of the severity of what he's charged with. I didn't realize Trump is possibly facing RICO charges.
Curiel is presiding over two separate class-action lawsuits about Trump University.
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In his public remarks, Trump appears to make no distinction between Low and Cohen. But there are crucial differences between the two civil class-action lawsuits. The Low plaintiffs sued Trump University and Trump himself under various consumer-protection laws in California, Florida, and New York—a relatively standard class-action lawsuit.
Cohen, on the other hand, targets Trump through a provision of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, more commonly known as the RICO Act—the same statute federal prosecutors use to bring down mob bosses. In essence, Low accuses Trump University of engaging in fraudulent business practices, while Cohen frames Trump University itself as a criminal enterprise with Trump as the orchestrator of a racketeering scheme.
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The Cohen [summary] motion [filed by Trump] is still pending, with a hearing scheduled for July 18.
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Summary judgment is granted when both sides in a case agree on the facts. Under those circumstances, a jury trial becomes pointless since there aren’t any factual disputes for jurors to deliberate and resolve. The judge’s role when addressing a summary-judgment motion is to determine whether there are any factual disputes.
Judge Curiel denied Trump’s summary motion in Low because there is a dispute over how much personal involvement Trump had, and he advertised that he did so there's evidence for Curiel to deny the motion and proceed to a jury trial. This was expected.
So on July 18 we find out whether Trump will be on trial not just for violating consumer protection laws but also for Trump University itself being a criminal enterprise, i.e. RICO.
That’s part of why Trump is trying to poison the well on Curiel, because the charges he'd be defending are so serious.
Side note: The GOP Convention starts July 18.