“The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll.”
The move has reopened one of the most politically charged legal battles tied to Donald Trump, years after Carroll won major civil judgments against him in court.
According to multiple reports, federal prosecutors are now examining whether Carroll may have made false statements under oath during testimony connected to her lawsuits against Trump. The focus appears to center on comments she made about outside financial support linked to her legal cases.
The investigation is being handled out of Chicago by the US Attorney’s Office, according to people familiar with the matter. So far, no criminal charges have been filed.
Carroll, now 82, became one of Trump’s most prominent accusers after publicly claiming he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s inside a New York department store dressing room. Trump denied the allegation repeatedly and attacked her credibility in public statements that later became central to multiple defamation lawsuits.
Two juries ultimately ruled in Carroll’s favor.
One awarded her $5 million after finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Another jury later ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages tied to additional defamatory remarks. Trump has continued appealing those rulings.
Now the story has shifted again.
At the center of the latest investigation is a 2022 deposition where Carroll reportedly said nobody else was funding her legal fight. Months later, it became public that billionaire Reid Hoffman had helped support some legal costs through a nonprofit arrangement tied to her case.
Trump allies have argued the funding questions matter because they believe it affects Carroll’s credibility.
Her legal team has pushed back strongly against that suggestion and previously argued there was no attempt to hide support arrangements. Court filings in earlier proceedings also suggested judges did not consider the funding issue central to the merits of the case itself.
“Government agencies really didn’t take this quite as seriously in the past.”
That line came from a different political conversation this week, but it reflects a broader atmosphere now surrounding Washington investigations, where old cases are increasingly being reopened, revisited, or politically reframed depending on who holds power.
Critics of the investigation are already describing the move as retaliation against a longtime Trump adversary. Supporters argue prosecutors are simply reviewing whether sworn testimony was accurate.
Outside the legal arguments, the political tension underneath it all is difficult to miss.
Trump spent years portraying Carroll’s accusations as false and politically motivated. Carroll, meanwhile, became a symbol for many women who saw her lawsuits as part of a broader reckoning around powerful men and public accountability.
“The avalanche of slime has been unbelievable,” Carroll said recently while discussing life after the trials.
Even after the courtroom victories, the conflict never fully ended. Appeals continued. Public attacks continued. And now, so does federal scrutiny.
What happens next remains unclear.
No charges have been announced. Officials have released very little publicly. And people close to the matter say the inquiry is still in its early stages.
But the fact that the Justice Department has reopened a legal path around one of Trump’s most well known accusers is already sending another wave of political shock through Washington.
And once again, a case many thought had already reached its conclusion suddenly feels unfinished.
