Overview
- Multiple outlets reported late Wednesday that the Justice Department had opened a criminal inquiry into whether E. Jean Carroll committed perjury in a 2022 deposition tied to her civil suits against President Donald Trump.
- The reported theory focuses on Carroll’s 2022 statement that she received no outside funding, which appears at odds with later disclosures that Reid Hoffman’s nonprofit paid some of her legal fees and expenses.
- Initial reporting said the matter was being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois under Andrew Boutros, but Boutros later issued a public statement saying his office never opened a probe.
- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has been recused because he previously represented Trump in Carroll-related appeals, and the Justice Department has declined to provide further comment beyond a narrow statement.
- The inquiry is preliminary and contested so far so watchers should expect competing accounts, possible focus on Hoffman’s nonprofit rather than Carroll, and further clarification from prosecutors or court filings before any charges would be likely.