Andrew Goudsward
Washington: The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the writer who accused President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday (Washington time).
The probe is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to two civil lawsuits that she won against Trump, one tied to her allegations that he sexually assaulted her in a New York department store and another over defamation in 2019, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
A jury found in May 2023 that Trump had sexually abused Carroll and defamed her by lying, but did not rape her. Another jury in January 2024 found that he had defamed her and ordered him to pay $US83.3 million ($116.9 million) in damages.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and is still in legal battles with Carroll.
CNN first reported the latest development.
The launch of a probe, led by the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago, does not necessarily mean charges will be brought against Carroll.
The department and Carroll’s lawyer Robbie Kaplan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Since last year, Trump’s Justice Department has pursued a slew of investigations against the president’s antagonists and has brought criminal charges in some cases.
The source said the prosecutors’ move is based on a 2022 deposition statement by Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit. Her lawyers later revealed that Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, had paid some of her legal bills.
Acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche, who has moved quickly to carry out Trump’s demands since taking over from his predecessor Pam Bondi, has been recused from the department’s investigation as he worked as one of Trump’s personal attorneys on the Carroll appeals, the source added.
Last year, Trump asked the Supreme Court to review Carroll’s original civil case against him because the judge who oversaw the trial, Lewis Kaplan, improperly allowed evidence to be presented that harmed the jury’s view of Trump.
In the petition to the Supreme Court, Trump’s lawyers argued that Kaplan should not have let jurors see the 2005 Access Hollywood tape that showed the president saying he groped and kissed women.
“There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police report or investigation,” they wrote of Carroll’s allegations.
While Trump in 2023 was found to have defamed and sexually abused Carroll, the jury rejected her claim of rape as defined by New York’s penal code.
Carroll, a former magazine columnist who is now 82, accused Trump of attacking her in the mid-1990s in a Manhattan department store changing room. The subsequent defamation case stemmed from a 2019 Truth Social post from Trump denying her claim.
Reuters
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
