Overview
- Multiple outlets reported late Wednesday that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll to determine whether she lied under oath in testimony tied to her suits against President Trump.
- Prosecutors are centering the inquiry on a videotaped 2022 deposition in which Carroll said she had no outside funding, a statement later complicated when her lawyers disclosed that Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees through a nonprofit.
- Senior DOJ officials referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the inquiry is active in Chicago under U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros while Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is recused.
- The investigation is at an early, investigatory stage and reporters noted that a referral does not mean charges will follow; the department declined further comment beyond confirming no U.S. Attorney’s Office had refused to investigate related matters.
- The development arrives against the backdrop of Carroll’s civil victories—a May 2023 $5 million award and a January 2024 $83.3 million defamation verdict that remain under appeal—and has prompted debate in coverage about prosecutorial discretion and politicization of the DOJ.