The Justice Department is reportedly pursuing a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who accused Donald Trump of rape in the 1990s and won nearly $90 million in civil judgments against him. The probe focuses on whether Carroll committed perjury during testimony connected to two civil lawsuits she won. The report follows Trump’s announcement of an agreement with the same Justice Department to create a $1.8 billion slush fund to reward political allies, potentially including those involved in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Statements accompanying that settlement condemned targeting for improper political or personal reasons, while the Carroll probe is framed as fitting that description. The piece also notes Trump’s anger at Carroll’s lawsuits and the court finding him liable for sexual abuse.
"Last night, CNN reported that the Department of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation against E. Jean Carroll, the writer who has accused Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s, and won nearly $90 million in civil judgments against him. The probe reportedly focuses on whether Carroll committed perjury during her testimony related to two civil lawsuits against him, both of which she won."
"The news comes less than 10 days after Trump-putatively acting as a private citizen-announced an agreement with that same Justice Department to create a $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his political allies, potentially including those who sacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. "The use of government power to target individuals or entities for improper and unlawful political, personal, or ideological reasons should not be tolerated by any Administration," the DOJ official Trent McCotter said while announcing the settlement."
"In truth, using government power to target individuals for political and personal reasons seems like an apt description of the probe into Carroll as well as many of the Justice Department's steps in recent months. Carroll's lawsuits infuriated Trump. The president has been accused of sexual assault by many women; he has denied all accusations, although he also boasts about nonconsensual groping in the infamous Access Hollywood tape."
Read at The Atlantic
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