DOJ Launches Investigation Into E. Jean Carroll

The Department of Justice launched an investigation into E. Jean Carroll after a jury found President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her. Carroll won millions in damages in two cases: one finding Trump liable for sexual assault in 2023 and another finding Trump defamed her in 2024. Both rulings were upheld on appeal, while Trump continued appealing the sexual assault case, with the Supreme Court postponing a decision multiple times. CNN reported that the Justice Department began a criminal investigation into whether Carroll committed perjury during a 2022 deposition about whether her lawsuit had outside backers. Carroll’s lawyers said Reid Hoffman paid some legal fees, while her team denied any association with a nonprofit that helped fund them. A judge allowed further deposition questioning but limited questions about Hoffman during trial. A Justice Department spokesperson said no U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to investigate the matter, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recused due to prior work on an appeal. The case is handled by an office in Chicago.

"The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the woman whom a jury found President Donald Trump sexually assaulted, according to multiple sources. Writer E. Jean Carroll won millions in damages in two separate cases against the president, one that found him liable for sexual assault in 2023 and one that found Trump defamed her the following year. Both decisions were upheld on appeal, though the president has appealed the sexual assault case yet again, this time to the Supreme Court, which has postponed its choice on whether or not to take up the case twelve separate times, including on Wednesday."

"Also on Wednesday came CNN's report that Trump's Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into Carroll surrounding the possibility that she committed perjury when she claimed in a 2022 deposition that her lawsuit against the president was not funded by any outside backers. Billionaire Reid Hoffman, Carroll's lawyers later told the judge, paid some of her legal fees. Carroll's legal team claimed she had no association with the Hoffmans' nonprofit that helped pay the fees, and the judge allowed Trump's lawyers to question Carroll in another deposition, though they were blocked from further questions about Hoffman during the trial."

"We can confirm that no U.S. Attorney's Office has declined to investigate any case relating to the subject matter of CNN's inquiry, a Justice Department spokesperson told CNN. We will not comment beyond that. CNN host Erin Burnett spoke with colleague Paula Reid about the story on Wednesday's OutFront. Now, over at the Justice Department, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, I am told, has recused from this case because he worked on one of the appeals related to the Carroll case, said Reid. Now, I'm told he has not attended any meetings or been in any discussions about this investigation. The case is currently being handled out of the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago."

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