US Governance — 2026-05-28

Justice Department Opens Criminal Investigation Into Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll Over Potential Perjury

BLUFIndictment of Carroll within 180 days is unlikely, as the Second Circuit's prior finding on her funding disclosure guts the willful-intent element prosecutors must prove.

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll over alleged perjury in her civil lawsuits against Trump, CNN, CBS News, and ABC News reported on May 27 123. Prosecutors are examining Carroll's 2022 deposition statement that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit; weeks before trial, her attorneys disclosed that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid legal expenses through a Chicago-based nonprofit 12. Senior DOJ leaders referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Andrew Boutros, with the Chicago venue linked to Hoffman's nonprofit 13. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recused himself from the investigation because he had represented Trump in the Carroll appeals 123.

Analysis
A grand jury indictment against Carroll within 180 days is unlikely. The Second Circuit's 2024 ruling, finding Carroll "plausibly represented" she had forgotten about the Hoffman-funded legal expenses, directly undercuts the government's perjury theory before a grand jury is even seated, and proof of willful intent remains the statutory threshold prosecutors must clear. Blanche's recusal removes the department's most politically motivated actor from oversight, potentially reducing prosecutorial urgency. Moderate confidence rests on the Second Circuit's documented public record; internal grand jury deliberations remain opaque. The investigation, corroborated independently by CNN, CBS News, and ABC News with secondary NYT confirmation, may function primarily as a reputational instrument against Carroll and Hoffman, DOJ slow-walking proceedings to impose exposure without risking acquittal, in which case the department's credibility before judges overseeing the parallel civil appeals docket erodes accordingly.

4 sources