(AFP) – The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former columnist whom President Donald Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting, according to media reports late Wednesday.
Trump has repeatedly urged the Justice Department to take action against his perceived enemies, and the latest inquiry focuses on whether Carroll committed perjury in her two civil lawsuits against Trump, CNN and The New York Times said, quoting people familiar with the matter.
In one of the lawsuits, Carroll alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store in 1996. In the other, a jury found Trump guilty of defamation for his many malicious public comments denying any assault, describing her as not being his type and alleging that she concocted the incident to boost her book sales. The court ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to Carroll for defaming her.
CNN said prosecutors are citing a 2022 deposition statement by Carroll, 82, that she received no outside money for her lawsuits. It later emerged that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees and expenses. The Times reported that federal prosecutor Andrew S. Boutros, who was appointed by Trump, opened the inquiry.
US Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is not involved in the investigation as he was one of Trump’s personal lawyers in the Carroll cases, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump’s calls for the Justice Department to take action against his enemies have come under fire from critics who say they have shattered the agency’s traditional independence.
Former US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said in January that a Justice Department criminal probe against him over cost overruns related to a building renovation project was intended to create pressure on monetary policy decision-making. Trump had exerted unprecedented pressure on the central bank to reduce interest rates and relentlessly berated Powell.
The president also fumed about a lack of legal action against New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Senator Adam Schiff, both Democrats, whom a close Trump ally accused of falsifying documents on mortgage applications. He fired the federal prosecutor in September who was overseeing an investigation into James after the attorney reportedly insisted there was insufficient evidence to charge her with mortgage fraud.
Last month, former FBI director James Comey was indicted over a social media post, months after a previous case against the outspoken Trump critic was thrown out. The Justice Department did not immediately reply to an AFP request for comment on the investigation into Carroll.
© 2024 AFP
