--- title: Donald Trump: Judge Unseals Files in Trump University Suit description: The judge hearing the class-action lawsuit against Trump University—whom Donald Trump called a "hater"—unsealed the documents in the case canonical: https://time.com/4351757/donald-trump-judge-unseals-trump-university-documents/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-30T15:17:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:07.627Z article:section: Politics og:title: Judge Criticized by Trump Unseals Trump University Documents og:description: He unsealed the documents on the same day as Trump's tirade against him og:url: https://time.com/4351757/donald-trump-judge-unseals-trump-university-documents/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58204cc9f966ce8a/698895833c1639d17945d744/donald-trump-judge-files.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Holds California Campaign Rally og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Judge Criticized by Trump Unseals Trump University Documents twitter:description: He unsealed the documents on the same day as Trump's tirade against him twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58204cc9f966ce8a/698895833c1639d17945d744/donald-trump-judge-files.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Judge Criticized by Donald Trump Unseals Trump University Case Files > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 30, 2016 3:17 PM UTC  Donald Trump, presumptive Republican presidential nominee, speaks during a campaign event in San Diego, California, on May 27, 2016. Donald Trump, presumptive Republican presidential nominee, speaks during a campaign event in San Diego, California, on May 27, 2016.Patrick T. Fallon—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 30, 2016 3:17 PM UTC The federal judge hearing the [class-action lawsuit](http://time.com/4304255/donald-trump-university-lawsuit-trial-hearing-case/) against Trump University—whom [Donald Trump called a “very hostile” “hater”](http://time.com/4351376/donald-trump-university-lawsuit-gonzalo-curiel/) on Friday—has [unsealed the documents in the case](http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-judge-idUKKCN0YK0PA). U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel [signed an order](http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000154-f8b3-da5b-afd4-fbb33c940001) on Friday determining that the case materials should be unsealed, [Reuters reported](http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-judge-idUKKCN0YK0PA) on Monday. His decision to unseal the documents came on the same day as Trump’s lengthy criticism of the judge and his handling of the case at a rally in San Diego, though Curiel did not specifically mention the tirade in the order, [Politico reported](http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/05/donald-trump-university-judge-unseals-files-223687). “Defendant became the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential race, and has placed the integrity of these court proceedings at issue,” Curiel said in [the order](http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000154-f8b3-da5b-afd4-fbb33c940001). The materials, which have been [published already by Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-university-lawsuit-documents-220181), include Trump University policies on handling students and the media. Plaintiffs in the suit have accused Trump of defrauding students through the now-defunct for-profit school “I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He’s a hater,” Trump [said at Friday’s rally](http://time.com/4351376/donald-trump-university-lawsuit-gonzalo-curiel/), where he also brought up Curiel’s Latino heritage, saying he believed he was Mexican. Curiel is an American who was born in East Chicago, Indiana, Reuters reported. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4351757/donald-trump-judge-unseals-trump-university-documents/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4351757/donald-trump-judge-unseals-trump-university-documents/"},"headline":"Judge Criticized by Donald Trump Unseals Trump University Case Files","datePublished":"2016-05-30T15:17:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:07.627Z","description":"He unsealed the documents on the same day as Trump's tirade against him","url":"https://time.com/4351757/donald-trump-judge-unseals-trump-university-documents/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58204cc9f966ce8a/698895833c1639d17945d744/donald-trump-judge-files.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58204cc9f966ce8a/698895833c1639d17945d744/donald-trump-judge-files.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Holds California Campaign Rally","caption":"Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Holds California Campaign Rally","creditText":"Patrick T. 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