Justice Department Opens Criminal Probe Into Former Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll: Key Facts

(SeaPRwire) –   The Justice Department has reportedly initiated a criminal inquiry into E. Jean Carroll, the 82-year-old former magazine columnist who secured two civil judgments against Donald Trump regarding allegations of sexual misconduct.

CNN was the first to report on the start of this new inquiry, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, and indicated that the probe will examine whether Carroll lied under oath during testimony connected to those lawsuits.

In 2023, a Manhattan jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after finding Trump liable for sexually abusing her and defaming her. In November 2025, Trump petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the verdict, concerning Carroll’s allegation that Trump raped her in a New York department store during the 1990s; however, the jury determined Carroll failed to prove that specific act of rape occurred.

Subsequently, in 2024, another jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages for defamation, stemming from his 2019 denial of her rape claim and his subsequent disparagement of her on social media and at press events. Earlier this month, an appeals court granted the President’s legal team’s request to delay the payment pending a review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

While this new investigation may not lead to charges against Carroll, it signifies the Trump Administration’s most recent effort to leverage the legal system to go after political opponents.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has reportedly recused himself from the department’s probe, as he previously served as one of Trump’s private attorneys on the Carroll appeals, according to a source speaking to Reuters.

The New York Times reported that Andrew S. Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois—a position Trump filled last year—initiated the inquiry, according to an anonymous source familiar with the details.

TIME stated that it had not yet received a response from the Justice Department or from Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney.

CNN noted that prosecutors are focusing their investigation on Carroll’s 2022 deposition, in which she asserted she received no external funding for her lawsuit. However, it was later disclosed that billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a Democratic donor, provided financial support for Carroll’s legal defense. Trump’s legal team accused the writer of concealing Hoffman’s contributions, yet a federal judge prevented jurors from hearing evidence regarding these donations, ruling that they were irrelevant to Carroll’s claims.

Since returning to the White House last year, Trump, via administration officials, has pursued cases against former FBI Director James Comey, former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Sen. Adam Schiff (D, Calif.), among others, in actions that Democrats have criticized as politically driven.