A federal judge has ordered internal Trump University documents to be released as part of a class-action lawsuit that alleges the now-defunct business owned by the presumptive GOP nominee defrauded students.
The order, requested by the Washington Post, was granted by U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel Friday. The Washington Post first reported the order online Saturday.
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The order was granted the same day that Trump told a San Diego crowd that Curiel was “a hater of Donald Trump” and suggested the proceedings were unfair.
Trump also on Friday said of Curiel, who was born in Indiana but is Hispanic: “The judge, who happens to be, we believe Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine.” Trump has been criticized for his immigration proposals and comments about immigrants from Mexico.
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The class-action civil lawsuit accuses the real estate mogul of fraud after students paid up to $35,000 for courses they say were worthless. Trump’s lawyers deny any wrongdoing in the case.
The Post’s order sought to unseal 153 pages from four Trump University “playbooks.” Another judge earlier ruled that most of the material in the playbooks wasn’t confidential or a trade secret. Politico already posted one of the playbooks online in full, Curiel noted.
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Versions of the playbooks with only phone numbers and non-Trump University emails redacted were ordered to be filed with the court on or before Thursday. Other documents were ordered immediately unsealed.
Curiel, a judge in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, referenced Trump’s complaints about the civil suit in a section of the order discussing whether the case is important to the public interest.
Curiel noted that Trump is “the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential race, and has placed the integrity of these court proceedings at issue.”
The trial is set for Nov. 28, after the presidential election.
