News24 | US opens criminal investigation into Trump rape accuser E Jean Carroll
E Jean Carroll attends ‘Ask E Jean’ New York screening at IFC Center in New York City.
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The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E Jean Carroll.She accused US President Donald Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s.A jury found in May 2023 that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll and defamed her by lying, but did not rape her.The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E Jean Carroll, the writer who accused US President Donald Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.The probe is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to two civil lawsuits that she won against Trump – one tied to her allegations that he sexually abused her in a New York department store, and another over defamation in 2019, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.CNN first reported the development.The launch of a probe, which is being led by the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago, may not necessarily result in charges being brought against Carroll.The department and Carroll’s lawyer Robbie Kaplan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.READ | Jury orders Donald Trump to pay $83 million for sex assault defamationSince 2025, Trump’s Justice Department has pursued a slew of investigations against the president’s antagonists and has brought criminal charges in some cases.The source said the prosecutors’ move is based on a 2022 deposition statement by the former Elle magazine columnist that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit. Her lawyers later revealed that Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, had paid some of her legal bills.A jury found in May 2023 that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll and defamed her by lying, but did not rape her. Another jury in January 2024 found that he had defamed her and ordered him to pay $83.3 million in damages.Trump has denied all wrongdoing and is still in legal battles with Carroll.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has moved quickly to carry out Trump’s demands since taking over from his predecessor Pam Bondi, has been recused from the department’s investigation as he worked as one of Trump’s personal attorneys on the Carroll appeals, the source added.AFP reported that in 2023, Trump described Carroll as “mentally sick” in a videotaped deposition that was played for jurors in his sexual assault and defamation civil trial.“She’s a liar and she’s really a sick person. I think she’s sick, mentally sick,” Trump said of Carroll.During the deposition, Trump reiterated his claim that he did not know who Carroll was and repeated several times comments he’s made before that “she’s not my type.”A friend of Carroll’s testified that Carroll told her shortly after the alleged rape that Trump had attacked her.“I was fighting, I was fighting,” retired journalist Carol Martin recalled Carroll as saying, adding that Carroll had not used the word rape.
