Exclusive: Justice Department launches a criminal investigation into Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED May 27, 2026, 7:05 PM ET


The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The investigation is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to her two civil lawsuits against the president – one alleging he sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and a second for defaming her when in 2019 he repeatedly denied the assault, said she wasn’t his type and claimed she made it up to boost sales of a book.

Prosecutors’ theory hinges on a 2022 deposition statement by Carroll, 82, that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit, though it was later revealed that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees and expenses.

Carroll’s team declined to comment for this story. Attempts to reach Hoffman on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/27/politics/exclusive-justice-department-launched-e-jean-carroll-investigation

[riversedge]

1. Trumpy's first name is 'sue'!!

[brer cat]

2. He is such an asshole.

[Jacson6]

3. All she has to do is not speak to them without a lawyer present.

If she is called before a grand jury she just needs to invoke her fifth amendment right. The founder fathers saw that the gov't can abuse it's power.

[onenote]

7. Some background about grand jury investigations and perjury charges

First, the target of a Grand Jury investigation is not always called to testify before the grand jury. If they are, they can invoke their fifth amendment rights but grand jury witnesses are not allowed to have a lawyer present in the grand jury room when they testify. If the government opts to proceed without calling the target to testify -- which is what I would expect to be the case with respect to Carroll, she could demand to testify but only if she gives up her right to invoke the fifth amendment.

From what I've read, the focus of the perjury allegation relates to an October 2022 deposition in which Carroll testified that to the best of her knowledge, her legal fees were not being paid by a third person. It was subsequently disclosed that a non-profit established by Reid Hoffman was providing funding that was being used to pay for some of Carroll's litigation costs, however the details regarding the funding and whether and/or when Carroll became aware of the funding is unclear or in dispute.

In any event, it is a very slim reed on which to hang a perjury charge, particularly since the trial court held a hearing about the funding issue and Carroll was not charged with perjury at that time. Keep in mind that to convict someone of perjury, the prosecution would have to establish that Carroll made a false statement, that it was made with knowledge of its falsity and not as a result of mistake or faulty memory. Thus, even if her answer in the deposition contained "false" information, if she believed her statement to be true when it was made, no perjury conviction can be obtained. Finally, the false statement has to be "material" to the proceeding -- meaning that statement in question has "a natural tendency to influence, or is capable of influencing, the decision of the decision-making body to which it was addressed." This would be extremely hard to establish given that the trial court held a hearing on whether the fact that some of Carroll's litigation costs were being covered by a third party was relevant and concluded, apparently, that it was not.

In short, this is a completely bullshit "investigation"

[sinkingfeeling]

4. The entire DOJ is now working exclusively for TSF and we're paying for it.

[riversedge]

5. I am wondering why the DOJ is involved. I had always thought this was a personal lawsuit.

[travelingthrulife]

6. DOJ is in charge of ratfucking innocent people.

[onenote]

8. Her cases were brought and tried in federal court.

So perjury during the proceedings, including pre-trial proceedings such as a deposition, falls within federal jurisdiction.

[Bayard]

9. We knew this was coming at some point

Ms. Carroll is probably in the Top 5 on trump's Enemies List.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Yet another example that "lawfare and weaponization" is something Trump does, not something done to him (nt)

[littlemissmartypants]

11. Waste, fraud and abuse. The true slogan of the regime. Only the word abuse...

Should be a verb
Unlike the other two nouns.

Because the leader is a waste of oxygen, a fraud as a person, and knows only how to abuse everything and everyone in his path.

[Jilly_in_VA]

12. How do you spell "vindictive"?

T-RU-M-P

Congratulations, you are correct! (This is the day of the National Spelling Bee finals)

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. Justice Dept. Is Said to Open Criminal Inquiry of E. Jean Carroll Over Trump Lawsuits (New York Times Gift Article)

Ms. Carroll, who prevailed in a civil trial after accusing President Trump of sexual abuse, is the latest target in a Justice Department campaign going after his perceived enemies.

Link to tweet

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/us/politics/criminal-inquiry-e-jean-carroll-trump-accusations.html

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the 82-year-old former magazine writer who accused Donald J. Trump of sexual assault, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.

The investigation centers on whether Ms. Carroll committed perjury in civil lawsuits against Mr. Trump, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Ms. Carroll won a $5 million civil judgment against Mr. Trump that he had sexually abused and defamed her, which the president last November asked the Supreme Court to overturn. She also won a $83.3 million civil judgment against him in another defamation case.

An inquiry into Ms. Carroll would represent the latest chapter in Mr. Trump’s retribution campaign, which has been carried out by Justice Department officials. A number of figures who brought criminal and civil cases against Mr. Trump have come under the department’s scrutiny, including James B. Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and other adversaries of the president.....

Mr. Blanche has aggressively pursued investigations against people Mr. Trump has targeted. Last month, the department charged James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, over a social media post of seashells arranged in the numbers “86 47,” which prosecutors said was a threat against Mr. Trump. Mr. Comey has said he did not associate the phrase with violence and denied wrongdoing.

Mr. Trump’s revenge campaign kicked into high gear last September when he publicly demanded that the then-attorney general, Pam Bondi, move to prosecute several of his adversaries. Within several weeks, a newly selected prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia had indicted Mr. Comey and Ms. James. But both of those cases were thrown out by a judge, and, despite the newer indictment of Mr. Comey last month, the department has struggled to gain traction in a number of cases against Mr. Trump’s adversaries.....

The Justice Department’s leadership also has made extensive use of a provision that allows the designation of cases to handpicked prosecutors across the country, regardless of whether possible crimes occurred in their jurisdictions.

The department assigned its investigation into John Brennan, the former C.I.A. director, to the U.S. attorney in Miami, Jason Reding Quiñones, because he was seen as more willing to pursue a case viewed as questionable by other offices, according to former officials.

Blanche and a host of DOJ attorneys will be disbarred for stunts like this.

[70sEraVet]

14. This is a laugh:

"Blanche has been recused from this matter because he worked as one of Trump’s personal attorneys on the Carroll appeals"! (Same link as above)
They think that THAT is going to cloud the fact that he is (acting) head of the DOJ? That the orders come down through him??