Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the writer whose civil suits against 
Donald Trump produced $88m in damages, over whether she committed perjury in a 2022 deposition. The probe was first reported by CNN and the New York Times on Wednesday evening, and centers on Carroll's sworn statement that she did not accept outside financial support for her legal fight, the Guardian reported.
What is the perjury allegation? Carroll, 82, said in the 2022 deposition that she had not received outside funding for her case. Nearly six months later her attorneys informed the judge and Trump's legal team that a nonprofit funded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees and expenses, the Guardian reported. Carroll's lawyers said she never met or spoke with anyone from the nonprofit. A three-judge federal appeals court panel in New York dismissed Trump's claim in 2024 that the omission amounted to lying, The Hill reported.
Who is overseeing it? Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who represented Trump personally in the Carroll civil case, has recused himself from the investigation. The inquiry is being handled by career prosecutors at the department, though officials would not confirm which division.
Why now? Carroll's two trials produced a $5m verdict for sexual abuse and defamation in 2023 and a separate $83m defamation award in 2024; Trump has appealed both, the Guardian reported. Civil-rights lawyers told the same outlet the investigation extends a pattern of the second Trump DOJ opening criminal files on the president's perceived adversaries, alongside probes of New York Attorney General Letitia James and former special counsel Jack Smith.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
