DOJ Opens Perjury Probe Into E. Jean Carroll Over Lawsuit Funding

The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into writer E Jean Carroll to determine whether she committed perjury during testimony in her civil lawsuits against President Trump. The probe centers on statements Carroll made in a 2022 deposition claiming she received no outside funding for her cases against the president.

Sources familiar with the matter told multiple outlets that investigators are examining revelations that billionaire Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder and prominent Democratic donor, covered portions of Carroll's legal expenses through his nonprofit American Future Republic. Carroll, now 82, had maintained in sworn testimony that her lawsuits proceeded without such assistance. The discrepancy forms the core of the current inquiry, according to people briefed on the investigation.

Carroll first sued Trump in 2022 alleging he sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. A Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation that year, ordering him to pay $5 million. A separate 2024 jury awarded her an additional $83.3 million after finding Trump defamed her again in 2019 comments denying the encounter and suggesting she fabricated the story to sell a book. Both judgments survived initial appeals, though Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court to review the first verdict and has pledged to challenge the second.

The new criminal investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois under Andrew Boutros, a Trump appointee. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recused himself from the matter because of his prior role representing Trump in related appeals. Justice Department officials have declined to comment publicly on the probe.

Trump has consistently denied ever meeting Carroll and has described the underlying accusations as politically motivated fabrications. The perjury inquiry arrives amid broader scrutiny of how outside money influenced high-profile legal actions against the president during and after his first term. Hoffman's involvement, previously documented in court filings, underscores the financial networks that supported Carroll's efforts despite her deposition statements to the contrary.

Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, has not responded to requests for comment on the investigation. The writer rose to prominence as an advice columnist before her claims against Trump gained national attention. Both of her civil victories hinged on jury findings that Trump's public denials constituted defamation, even as he maintained the encounters never occurred.

The development highlights questions about the transparency of funding in cases that carried significant financial and political consequences. Carroll's deposition testimony regarding outside support now faces formal review by federal prosecutors, separate from the civil proceedings that produced the large damage awards. Trump has continued to assert his innocence while pursuing appeals through the federal court system.