U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel announced last week that documents from the Trump University case were to be released to the public, but only days later, on May 31, Curiel sent out another another letter to have some some of those documents resealed from public view.
The judge said he had “mistakenly” listed some records to be released in full, when they were supposed to be edited or redacted to delete personal information like home addresses and personal emails.
The items in question are now restricted to the courts, but news organizations have possession of them. An example of this is the declaration by former Trump University events manager Corinne Summer—a document that was posted online by the New York Times.
Now, that document is no longer available from the court.
In the document, Summer gave a damning testimony about the moral compass of the University:
While Trump University’s advertisements claimed it wanted to help consumers make money in real estate, in fact, based upon my experience, I believe that Trump University was only interested in selling every person the most expensive seminars they could possibly buy on credit. I recall that some consumers had showed up who were homeless and could not afford the seminars, yet I overheard Trump University representatives telling them, “it’s ok; just max out your credit card.”
Judge Curiel told Trump’s lawyer to file redacted copies of the resealed documents so they could again be made public by the court.
One of the most illuminating pieces of evidence that was made public was the Trump U playbook which gave an inside look into the sales pitch of the school.
“This is not something we offer to just anyone. We don’t want to work with just anyone,” it reads. “You know who my boss is right? Mr. Trump is on a mission to create the next wave of independently wealthy entrepreneurs in America. Is that YOU?”
Additionally, the playbook gave helpful pointers on how to “seal the deal,” including music to play and how to spot potential customers for the $34,995 Gold Elite three-day package.
Collect personalized information that you can utilize during closing time. (For example: are they a single parent of three children that may need money for food? Or are they a middle-aged commuter that is tired of traveling for 2 hours to work each day?)
There are three lawsuits against Trump University, with the most notable one filed by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman in 2013.
Trump has also made a point to go after Judge Curiel, a Hispanic judge who Trump has personally attacked as being unfair and biased against him, calling him a “Mexican”—Curiel was born in East Chicago to Mexican immigrants.
