Trump's DOJ Opens Criminal Investigation Into E. Jean Carroll — The Woman a Jury Found He Sexually Assaulted

On May 27, 2026, CNN reported that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll — the 82-year-old former magazine columnist who accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s.

Two juries found her credible. Both ruled against Trump. She was awarded $5 million for sexual abuse and defamation, and $83.3 million in a second defamation case. Both verdicts were upheld on appeal.

Now the president's Justice Department is criminally investigating her.

The theory

The investigation centers on whether Carroll committed perjury in a 2022 videotaped deposition. Trump's then-attorney Alina Habba asked if anyone else was paying for her legal fees. Carroll said no.

It was later revealed that Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder, had helped cover some of Carroll's legal expenses through a nonprofit called American Future Republic. Carroll's lawyers disclosed this to the judge and to Trump's legal team two weeks before trial. Carroll's attorneys said she had never met nor spoken with anyone associated with the nonprofit and was not involved in decisions about who funded her litigation costs.

This was already litigated — and dismissed

Trump's lawyers raised the Hoffman funding issue at trial. Judge Lewis Kaplan found no issue with Carroll's credibility and blocked the defense from asking about the funding.

Trump's lawyers raised it again on appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the deposition and found that Carroll had "plausibly represented" that she had "forgotten about the limited outside funding counsel obtained." The appeals court wrote:

"It showed that Ms. Carroll simply was not involved in the matter of who was or was not funding her litigation costs."

A trial judge reviewed it. An appeals court reviewed it. Both concluded Carroll's answer was not deceptive. The DOJ is now opening a criminal investigation into the same answer that two courts already found credible.

Who is running the investigation

• The probe was opened by Andrew S. Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois — a Trump appointee
• The case was referred from senior DOJ leadership to federal prosecutors in Chicago — routed there because Hoffman's nonprofit is based in Illinois
• Acting AG Todd Blanche is recused — because he was Trump's personal attorney on the Carroll appeals. The same man who signed the "FOREVER BARRED" tax immunity and created the $1.776 billion slush fund was Trump's lawyer in this exact case.

Blanche was recused because the conflict is on its face. But the investigation was referred by the DOJ office he runs, to a prosecutor Trump appointed, over facts two courts already reviewed.

The pattern

Carroll joins a growing list of people targeted by Trump's DOJ for the apparent crime of opposing, accusing, or investigating the president:

• James Comey — indicted over a seashell Instagram post
• Adam Schiff — under investigation
• Letitia James — under investigation (the AG who won a $454M fraud judgment against Trump)
• Jerome Powell — investigated, then probe dropped after public backlash
• SPLC — indicted on a "legally deficient" case per a DOJ whistleblower
• Wall Street Journal reporters — subpoenaed for Iran war coverage Trump called "virtual TREASON"
• NYT reporter — FBI investigated her for writing about Kash Patel's girlfriend
• Kilmar Abrego Garcia — charged in a case a judge threw out as "vindictive prosecution"

And now: the 82-year-old woman who accused the president of sexual assault — investigated for perjury over a deposition answer that two courts already found credible.

What this is about

Sen. Adam Schiff: "He's using the power of the DOJ to go after his own victims. It's a vile attack on the rule of law and a disgusting insult to victims everywhere."

The Supreme Court has deferred twelve times on whether to take up Trump's appeal of the $5 million sexual abuse verdict. The most recent deferral was the morning this investigation was reported. The court keeps punting. The DOJ keeps escalating.

The message to every woman who has ever been assaulted by a powerful man: if you win in court, the government will come for you. If you tell the truth and a jury believes you, the president's Justice Department will open a criminal investigation into your testimony. The cost of being right is a federal probe. The cost of being a victim is becoming a defendant.