The U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois has denied reports of his office opening a new criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who once accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault.
Media reports surfaced Wednesday evening that the Department of Justice was investigating E. Jean Carroll, with CNN reporting the investigation was about her possibly committing perjury during a 2022 deposition. CBS News reported the investigation was coming from U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’s office.
Boutros later issued a statement on Thursday refuting that Carroll was the subject of an investigation.
“In light of wide-spread reporting and intense media and public interest into the E. Jean Carroll matter in New York, the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office can confirm that it has not opened — and has never opened — a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll,” he said. “Any claim to the contrary is categorically false.”
Instead of Carroll herself, the DOJ is examining who paid the legal bills in her civil lawsuits against Trump as part of an investigation into a Chicago-based nonprofit organization run by Reid Hoffman that paid for some of her legal expenses, according to multiple reports. In Carroll’s 2022 testimony, which was part of her civil lawsuit against Trump, she said she was not receiving outside funding for her legal expenses.
Contrary to Carroll’s testimony, American Future Republic helped pay her legal bills. Hoffman is a major Democratic Party donor and the co-founder of LinkedIn.
A source familiar with the DOJ’s operations told Axios that Hoffman’s nonprofit is at the center of the investigation, saying it’s “related to E. Jean Carroll and her deposition” but that “she is not the subject of the investigation.”
Carroll sued Trump twice, the first time for allegedly sexually assaulting her in the 1990s and the second time for allegedly defaming her in his denial of the alleged sexual assault incident. Trump denies the claims against him.
DOJ OPENS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO E. JEAN CARROLL
The DOJ confirmed to the Washington Examiner there is no open investigation into Carroll at this time. A source told the Washington Post that it is possible the investigation into Hoffman and his nonprofit will lead to a criminal probe of Carroll.
The Washington Examiner contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois for comment on an investigation into Hoffman’s nonprofit.
