The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday launched a criminal investigation against E Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault.
Case against E Jean Carroll
The investigation against Carroll is focused on whether she gave false testimony in connection with her two civil lawsuits against Trump: one alleging he sexually abused her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and a second for defaming her when, in 2019, he repeatedly denied the assault, said she wasn’t his type, and claimed she made it up to boost sales of a book, CNN reported.
Prosecutors’ argument centres on a 2022 deposition in which Carroll, 82, said she had not received outside funding for her lawsuit. However, it was later revealed that billionaire Reid Hoffman had covered some of her legal fees and related expenses.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has recused himself from the Carroll case because he worked as one of Trump’s personal attorneys on her appeals, according to a source familiar with the matter. Blanche has not attended meetings or been involved in discussions about the investigations, and the investigation is being overseen by other officials in the deputy attorney general’s office.
The investigation has been referred to federal prosecutors in Chicago, despite Carroll's deposition taking place in New York.
The report suggests that a criminal investigation against Carroll is the latest move in the department’s relentless, and at times strained, efforts to fulfil Trump’s demands to target his long-standing personal adversaries.
Who is E Jean Carroll?
Carroll is a journalist and author who wrote for ESQUIRE and OUTSIDE magazines, prominent lifestyle publications. According to her website, she became the first woman to walk from Telefomin in Papua New Guinea, across the Star Mountains, to the border of Irian Jaya.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Carroll attended Indiana University Bloomington and Stanford University. She worked as an advice columnist for ELLE magazine from 1993 to 2020. Since July 2020, she has been working as a contributing writer for The Atlantic. Apart from writing for The Atlantic, she has also written for New York and Vanity Fair and was the first female contributing editor for Playboy.
Sharing details of her personal life on her website, Carroll wrote that she has had two husbands and at least 20 dogs. She also claims to be the "first person to hold Donald Trump liable for his lies since he became president."
What has E Jean Carroll accused Trump of?
According to media reports, Carroll has accused the US President of sexually assaulting her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s, an allegation which Trump denied and called a "made-up scam."
In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and awarded her five million dollars in damages. In 2024, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a defamation case after the US President repeatedly attacked her publicly.
Earlier this month, a federal appeals court allowed Trump to delay payment of the defamation award until the US Supreme Court considers whether to hear his appeal.
