A new Justice Department criminal investigation has put E Jean Carroll back in the legal spotlight, with prosecutors examining whether the former columnist committed perjury during her civil court battles with President Donald Trump, according to media reports.
The probe centers on testimony Ms Carroll gave in the two lawsuits she brought against Mr Trump, CNN and The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
One case stemmed from Ms Carroll’s allegation that Mr Trump sexually assaulted her in 1996 inside a New York department store.
The second focused on Mr Trump’s repeated public denials, which a jury found amounted to defamation. Jurors concluded his statements included malicious attacks—saying she was not his type and asserting she invented the episode to increase book sales.
A court ordered Mr Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to Ms Carroll for defaming her.
CNN reported that prosecutors are pointing to a deposition from 2022 in which Ms Carroll, 82, said she had not received outside funding for the lawsuits.
Subsequent reporting found that billionaire Reid Hoffman had covered some legal fees and other expenses.
The Times said federal prosecutor Andrew S Boutros, appointed by Mr Trump, initiated the inquiry.
US Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is not participating in the matter because he previously served as one of Mr Trump’s personal attorneys in the Carroll litigation, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
The development comes as Mr Trump’s public demands that the Justice Department pursue his adversaries have drawn condemnation from critics who argue the pressure has undermined the department’s traditional independence.
Former US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said in January that a Justice Department criminal investigation into him tied to cost overruns for a building renovation project was aimed at influencing monetary policy decisions.
Mr Trump had exerted unpredecented pressure on the central bank to reduce interest rates and relentlessly berated Powell.
The president has also voiced anger over what he described as a failure to bring cases against New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Senator Adam Schiff, both Democrats, after a close Trump ally accused them of falsifying documents related to mortgage applications.
In September, Mr Trump dismissed the federal prosecutor supervising an investigation into Ms James after the attorney reportedly maintained there was not enough evidence to charge her with mortgage fraud.
Last month, former FBI director James Comey was indicted over a social media post, months after an earlier case involving the outspoken Trump critic was dismissed.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the investigation into Ms Carroll.
