{"id":3767,"date":"2026-05-28T02:39:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T02:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/28\/us-justice-department-reportedly-opens-criminal-inquiry-into-trump-accuser-e-jean-carroll\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T02:39:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T02:39:38","slug":"us-justice-department-reportedly-opens-criminal-inquiry-into-trump-accuser-e-jean-carroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=3767","title":{"rendered":"US justice department reportedly opens criminal inquiry into Trump accuser E Jean Carroll"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"1550d007-318d-4878-8a2e-ce1fb0abb4c3\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Woman in sunglasses looks ahead\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ca1dfd4f9fcb728e91fc230edca6e8e724e281d8\/133_0_2870_2296\/master\/2870.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">E Jean Carroll outside federal court in New York in September 2024.<\/span> Photograph: Eduardo Mu\u00f1oz\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"1550d007-318d-4878-8a2e-ce1fb0abb4c3\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">E Jean Carroll outside federal court in New York in September 2024.<\/span> Photograph: Eduardo Mu\u00f1oz\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">US justice department reportedly opens criminal inquiry into Trump accuser E Jean Carroll<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Officials said to be examining whether Carroll committed perjury in 2022 deposition tied to lawsuits against president<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation into E Jean Carroll, the writer who accused the president of sexual assault, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/05\/27\/politics\/exclusive-justice-department-launched-e-jean-carroll-investigation\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">according<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/05\/27\/us\/politics\/us-is-said-to-open-criminal-inquiry-of-e-jean-carroll-over-accusations-against-trump.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">news reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Prosecutors, the New York Times and CNN reported on Wednesday, are looking into whether Carroll, 82, committed perjury in a 2022 deposition during her civil lawsuits against Trump, in which she said she did not accept outside financial support for her legal battles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Nearly six months later, before the trial started, Carroll\u2019s attorneys informed the judge and Trump\u2019s lawyers that a nonprofit funded by Reid Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn co-founder, had paid some legal fees and expenses. Trump\u2019s lawyers claimed Carroll hid Hoffman\u2019s funding and that the obfuscation undermined her credibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Carroll\u2019s lawyers said she never met or spoke with anyone from the nonprofit. The judge allowed Trump\u2019s attorney, Alina Habba, to question Carroll again in a second deposition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In 2024, a three-judge federal appeals court panel in New York <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca2.60504\/gov.uscourts.ca2.60504.176.1_1.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">dismissed<\/a> the claim that Carroll had lied in her deposition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, claimed in her 2019 book What Do We Need Men For? that Trump forced himself upon her in a New York department store\u2019s dressing room. Trump denied the allegations, accusing her of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/trump-accuser-e-jean-carroll-voices-frustration-about-lack-of-consequences-for-repeated-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct\/2019\/06\/24\/852905ec-9697-11e9-830a-21b9b36b64ad_story.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">\u201ctotally lying<\/a>\u201d and adding that she was \u201cnot my type\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Carroll filed a federal civil lawsuit against Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. A jury found Trump liable on both counts, and awarded Carroll $5m in damages. A year later, a separate jury ordered Trump to pay $83m in another defamation case. Trump has appealed both judgments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">CNN and the New York Times reported that Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has recused himself from the justice department investigation due to his role representing Trump in Carroll\u2019s civil case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The reported federal investigation into Carroll marks the latest example of Trump\u2019s justice department launching criminal investigations into political opponents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Federal prosecutors have investigated former FBI chief James Comey, New York attorney general Letitia James and Democratic members of Congress including Adam Schiff and Ilhan Omar. The investigations have not yet resulted in convictions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The justice department and Carroll\u2019s legal representatives did not immediately return the Guardian\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><em>Robert Mackey contributed reporting<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/trump-administration\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/e-jean-carroll\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">E Jean Carroll<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=US%20justice%20department%20reportedly%20opens%20criminal%20inquiry%20into%20Trump%20accuser%20E%20Jean%20Carroll&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/27\/trump-doj-investigation-e-jean-carroll?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F27%2Ftrump-doj-investigation-e-jean-carroll&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/27\/trump-doj-investigation-e-jean-carroll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>E Jean Carroll outside federal court in New York in September 2024. Photograph: Eduardo Mu\u00f1oz\/AP View image in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}